2020 Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Highlights

I dare say, Claire Williams, who celebrates her birthday on Tuesday, might just like this lap time, as George Russell goes third fastest. That's a big improvement. And that also indicates the track's improving quite a lot, but not for Kimi Raikkonen. Only 17th fastest at the moment. He's going out of qualifying as Nicholas Latifi will be next to cross the line. His teammates gone third fastest. Latifi goes seventh fastest. Vettel comes round the final corner. He does go fourth fastest. So relief. Worry over maybe for Ferrari there. Albon goes seventh fastest. That'll certainly help him. Verstappen makes it to the line by about 15 seconds to spare to start his final flying lap, and he's down in 12th fastest at the moment. Pressure is on these drivers. One mistake could be really costly. Kimi Raikkonen doesn't get out of the bottom five. He's out of qualifying in Q1 for the fourth race in succession. Lando Norris goes fourth fastest. His teammate Carlos Sainz beats him by a few hundredths of a second. Is Antonio Giovinazzi suffering throughout this qualifying after having to back off on his first flying lap? Only 18th fastest. Dani Kvyat's at risk. He's on the cusp of relegation at the moment. And Esteban Ocon, next man to cross the line, could be the one to do it. He does. Relegates Kvyat down into the bottom five. He goes ninth fastest, Ocon. And Verstappen needs to get this lap in now that he's on. He's not anywhere near a personal best first sector. But Verstappen is on the bubble. That is track evolution with a capital E. Extraordinary. Verstappen's going to finish off this lap just to make sure. Crosses the line, goes eighth fastest. But Williams have two drivers through into Q2. George Russell and Nikos Latifi both making it out of Q1 at the expense of the two Haas drivers, Dani Kvyat and Antonio Giovinazzi, for the first time in his career. Kimi Raikkonen knocked out four successive races in Q1 and the slowest driver on the track today. OK, that's it. I've lost everything. Gasly in Q3 at the moment, but you rather get the feeling he isn't going to be going any quicker on this lap. Look at this. Perez not improving on the medium compound tyre. Sainz didn't improve in the first sector, did in the middle sector. Norris has improved on both sectors and goes third fastest ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. P3 for Lando Norris. Here then comes Sergio Perez, crosses the line, stays eighth fastest. Horrible lap. Not what he was looking for at all. Carlos Sainz stays sixth fastest. Ricciardo stays tenth fastest, but his teammate Esteban Ocon can cross the line now. Can't improve. Stays 14th fastest. The track doesn't seem to be ramping up in the way that you'd expect. Oh, and that's a massive relief for Racing Point. Here comes Ferrari and Charles Leclerc goes third fastest. He's found improvement there. That puts Ricciardo out of the top ten. Gasly's at risk, got no power in his car, can't improve on his time. Lance Stroll does improve on his time, goes seventh fastest. He and his teammate Sergio Perez on the medium tyres in the top ten at the moment. Alex Albon, meanwhile. Well, he's not improved in either sector. But looking at the lap times here, Alex Albon stays 13th. He qualified 10th here in the Toro Rosso last year. 12th, I should say, in the Toro Rosso last year. Finished 10th and qualifies 13th for Red Bull today. Well, respect then to Racing Point. They rolled the dice, took the risk. Perez didn't get the lap in, but thankfully for them, the Renaults just didn't deliver, and nor has Alex Albon in the second Red Bull. Hamilton absolutely flying. A 25.8 in the middle sector for him. Stroll goes wide, but not too wide round the final corner. 1.14.6 is the benchmark that they're all aiming for. And it's Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari that crosses the line next. A long way behind. Six tenths off the Racing Point. Hamilton next across the line. Hamilton goes fastest and into the one minute thirteens. And the track records are tumbling here. A 1.14.5 was the previous lap record from Max Verstappen to 1.13.6. Now Valtteri Bottas, a 1.13.9. It's Mercedes 1 and 2. Hamilton clear by about three tenths. Here comes Lando Norris next across the line. Goes fourth fastest overall. Decent lap there from Lando Norris. Sergio Perez can only go fifth fastest. And Lance Stroll is the leader of the two Racing Points. And there's a quicker lap in it for Stroll as well. He was a little bit wide through 1.13.6 and 1.14.6. And Sergio Perez has had his lap time deleted for track limits as well. As Sainz goes fifth fastest. And now Verstappen puts his car up onto the second row. Sebastian Vettel, it might be a personal best lap, but is it really going to move in that much up the standings? And that didn't look too clever. Just a tiny bit wide all the way through 1.13.6. But that looks much better through 1.14.6. Sebastian Vettel and DRS wide open. Goes fourth fastest ahead of Verstappen, Norris and Sainz. He's in the top five at the moment. He's laid down the gauntlet then. Leclerc, Perez, the only four drivers on the circuit at the moment. They might think, those four, that these are the better of the conditions. He goes fifth fastest to Charles Leclerc. Sebastian Vettel, his teammate, manages to out-qualify him. Lance Stroll has gone third fastest on his latest lap. His teammate, Sergio Perez, who had a lap time deleted, goes fourth fastest. Second row locked out for Racing Point at the moment. And they are very, very happy with that. And so they should be. Lewis Hamilton sets a purple sector through the middle sector. That's bad news for Valtteri Bottas. He's trying to play catch up here, but the gap keeps getting extended by his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, going for a seventh pole position here at the Hungaro Ring. It's a track that he's won seven times at before as well. Hamilton on provisional pole then, extends his advantage. And now we look to Valtteri Bottas coming out of the final corner. The only man that can deny Lewis Hamilton pole position today. Bottas crosses the line. He's a tenth down and Hamilton is on pole in Hungary once again. So can Max Verstappen spoil the sea of pink that is row two at the moment? Verstappen crosses the line and no, he can't. Last year's pole sitter starts only seventh on the grid in 2020. Ferrari have their best qualifying of the season so far. Sebastian Vettel keeps up his record of qualifying in the top five every year since 2008. And well done to Racing Point, who've locked out row two.