George Russell snatched an unexpected first Formula 1 pole in a crazy Q3 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver upset the pecking order with a blistering final lap of 1m17.377s to beat the two Ferraris, who had looked set to lock out the front row.
Qualifying though would become a disaster for Red Bull, with Sergio Perez knocked out in Q2 and Max Verstappen suffering a loss of power before his last Q3 lap as he finished 10th.
Q1
After a wet FP3, and despite black clouds around the circuit, conditions were dry for the start of qualifying.
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two at the front as he and Russell opted to use a second set of soft tyres.
In the elimination zone, only 0.068s covered Lance Stroll, who was safe in P15, to teammate Sebastian Vettel in 18th.
As Q1 draws to a close, #LS18 comes home in P15, making it through to Q2 in Hungary.#SV5 misses out on Q2 after finishing in P18.#F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/3ZaMWPv8u5
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) July 30, 2022
After being the surprise leaders in the wet, both Williams’ were knocked out in Q1 with Alex Albon 17th and Nicholas Latifi slowest overall.
Joining them were the AlphaTauris who continued their recent struggles. Yuki Tsunoda was 16th, while Pierre Gasly dropped to 19th after having a time good enough for Q2 deleted for track limits.
Q2
Q2 saw confusion for Sergio Perez, who initially had his first lap deleted for track limits before having it reinstated by the stewards.
Perez had his lap time deleted for this BUT the stewards have now reinstated his time ?#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/TuvyKmoD0I
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2022
A poor second lap though meant the Mexican would still be eliminated in 11th in a big surprise, missing out on the top 10 by just 0.071s.
Zhou Guanyu was 12th, ahead of Kevin Magnussen in 13th and Mick Schumacher 15th as both Haas’ failed to reach Q3.
Lance Stroll sat between them in 14th in the Aston Martin.
Q3
The first run saw Sainz set the benchmark on a 1m17.5s as Leclerc was third and Verstappen only seventh after making errors on their respective laps.
Russell sat second and Hamilton fourth after impressive laps on used tyres for Mercedes.
The second run began with Verstappen reporting a loss of power out of the pits, with the Dutchman ultimately unable to do a competitive final lap.
Not our Saturday but we’ll come back fighting tomorrow ? #HungarianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/jnikhplXQX
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 30, 2022
Leclerc improved but not by enough to beat Sainz, who also shaved a few extra hundredths off his original best.
But it would be Russell that shocked the paddock by putting Mercedes on pole for the first time this season, leading Carlos by just 0.044s.
Lando Norris moved up to fourth, ahead of the two Alpines as Esteban Ocon pipped teammate Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton was only seventh in the other Mercedes, seven-tenths slower than Russell on pole and fractionally faster than Valtteri Bottas in eighth.
Daniel Ricciardo was ninth, sharing the fifth row with Verstappen who completed the top 10.
A shock result, but still an opportunity for Ferrari to make up ground in the championship on Sunday.
Will they take it? We’ll have to wait and see!
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION
Take a bow, @GeorgeRussell63 ???#HungarianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/SUmvvRw99c
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 30, 2022