George Russell snatches unexpected pole in Hungary

No one saw that coming! While all eyes were on the internal battle between Carlos Sainz et Charles Leclerc to obtain pole position, George Russell came to pick the laurels at the wire, creating a huge surprise here on the Hungaroring. The Briton indeed signed his first career pole by beating the Ferrari of Sainz by 44 thousandths and that of Leclerc by 190 thousandths.

In agony on Friday in terms of pure rhythm, the team of Brackley managed to rectify the situation to also secure its first leading position of the year. Lewis Hamilton, who was not able to improve at the end of the session, finished 7th 0″765 behind his teammate George Russell. For the Ferraris, the deal is not so bad since Max Verstappen, victim of a loss of power, could not do better than 10th on the grid, after having visibly blocked the front left in turn 2 on his first attempt.

What end of qualification at #HungarianGP 🇭🇺 🥵

George Russell surprises everyone and takes pole ahead of the Ferraris 🔝

🇫🇷 Excellent result@OconEsteban, who will start 5th tomorrow, ahead Alonso

Disaster for Verstappen, who will start in 10th place 😱 pic.twitter.com/Pq2KFcKIJK

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) July 30, 2022

Already surprising 5th last week in France, Lando Norris (McLaren) did even better with a 4th place, ahead of a Esteban Ocon 5th which equals his best qualification of the year (Saudi Arabia). The Habs dominated his teammate Fernando Alonso by 60 thousandths. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) qualified 8th, just ahead Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), still behind his British teammate and 1 second behind George Russell.

Perez eliminated in Q2

In difficulty for several weeks, Sergio Perez (Red Bull) was eliminated in Q2 in Hungary, in what will go down as a catastrophic session for Red Bull. The Mexican finished 11th, 71 thousandths from moving into Q3. On the radio, he explained that he was embarrassed by Kevin Magnussen (Haas), also eliminated (13th). The Dane was around 4 tenths faster than his teammate Mick Schumacher (15th), who did not have the latest improvements on his Haas. Guanyu-Zhou et Lance stroll (Aston Martin) will start 12th and 14th respectively.

New disappointment for Pierre Gasly. The Norman will start in 19th position on Sunday on a circuit where overtaking is extremely complicated. The Frenchman had set the 13th time in Q1, but his time was canceled due to track limits at turn 5, causing him to tumble to the last line. His teammate Yuki tsunoda did not move into Q2 either (16th).

Despite the introduction of its new rear wing, Aston Martin seems to be struggling since Sebastian Vettel, future retiree at the end of the season, could not do better than 18th. Heroes of the third free practice session in the rain, Nicholas latifi returned to his usual standards with a 20th place on the grid.