Lewis Hamilton put himself in the perfect position to score a third consecutive win by claiming a commanding pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver held a comfortable 0.4-second advantage over the rest of the field after his first Q3 flying lap, and although his rivals closed in, he managed to improve to 1:20.899 to secure the 10th pole of his Formula One career.
Hamilton will lead an all-McLaren front row after his teammate Heikki Kovalainen vaulted on to the outside of the front row with his last lap, having previously languished back in ninth.
Felipe Massa salvaged Ferrari honour in third place, as Kimi Raikkonen could only manage sixth place following another low-key performance.
BMW's Robert Kubica completed the second row, but his teammate Nick Heidfeld had another disastrous qualifying session. His first Q1 flying lap was only good enough for 15th place, and he was rapidly pushed into the elimination zone and then hit traffic on his second run, leaving him 16th and gesturing in frustration at Sebastien Bourdais.
Toyota's Timo Glock was the sensation of the qualifying session - earning an F1 career-best fifth on the grid, four places clear of teammate Jarno Trulli.
This excerpted from a Toyota press release:
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: Quick throughout, his best ever qualifying in F1 PROVISIONAL GRID: 5th
FP3 3rd Best Lap Time: 1m 20.623s (+0.395s) Laps: 21
Q1 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 19.980s (+0.604s) Laps: 10
Q2 2nd Best Lap Time: 1m 19.246s (+0.178s) Laps: 6
Q3 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 21.326s (+0.427s) Laps: 8
"That was a very good qualifying session for me and I'm obviously delighted. We made a good start in first practice yesterday. The team did a good job overnight and we made the right choice over set-up. It wasn't easy today because we had a very tight choice over tyres so we had to make a close decision for every lap. But in the end my engineers stayed cool and got it right. In Q2 the car felt perfect. Then on the very last lap it was a bit trickier again because the tyres didn't behave quite as well, but I'm happy with P5. We are in a great situation for tomorrow. It's good for all of us and after Hockenheim this is the perfect answer for the faith I have in the whole team."
... notes from The EDJE
Original Story:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php....
The McLaren driver held a comfortable 0.4-second advantage over the rest of the field after his first Q3 flying lap, and although his rivals closed in, he managed to improve to 1:20.899 to secure the 10th pole of his Formula One career.
Hamilton will lead an all-McLaren front row after his teammate Heikki Kovalainen vaulted on to the outside of the front row with his last lap, having previously languished back in ninth.
Felipe Massa salvaged Ferrari honour in third place, as Kimi Raikkonen could only manage sixth place following another low-key performance.
BMW's Robert Kubica completed the second row, but his teammate Nick Heidfeld had another disastrous qualifying session. His first Q1 flying lap was only good enough for 15th place, and he was rapidly pushed into the elimination zone and then hit traffic on his second run, leaving him 16th and gesturing in frustration at Sebastien Bourdais.
Toyota's Timo Glock was the sensation of the qualifying session - earning an F1 career-best fifth on the grid, four places clear of teammate Jarno Trulli.
This excerpted from a Toyota press release:
Timo Glock (Car 12, Chassis TF108-06)
Summary: Quick throughout, his best ever qualifying in F1 PROVISIONAL GRID: 5th
FP3 3rd Best Lap Time: 1m 20.623s (+0.395s) Laps: 21
Q1 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 19.980s (+0.604s) Laps: 10
Q2 2nd Best Lap Time: 1m 19.246s (+0.178s) Laps: 6
Q3 5th Best Lap Time: 1m 21.326s (+0.427s) Laps: 8
"That was a very good qualifying session for me and I'm obviously delighted. We made a good start in first practice yesterday. The team did a good job overnight and we made the right choice over set-up. It wasn't easy today because we had a very tight choice over tyres so we had to make a close decision for every lap. But in the end my engineers stayed cool and got it right. In Q2 the car felt perfect. Then on the very last lap it was a bit trickier again because the tyres didn't behave quite as well, but I'm happy with P5. We are in a great situation for tomorrow. It's good for all of us and after Hockenheim this is the perfect answer for the faith I have in the whole team."
... notes from The EDJE
Original Story:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php....
