While the Red Bulls had the early pace on Friday, Ferrari made changes overnight and looked very strong in Practice 3 this morning. These changes translated very well as we went into Qualifying.
After looking well off the pace last time out at Silverstone, the Scuderia was back in attacking mode. A qualifying domination as Ferrari locked out the front row, Vettel on pole ahead of Raikkonen. The characteristics of the twisty Hungaroring differ greatly from the the fast, flowing Silverstone circuit. The Mercedes cars seem to struggle in slow speed corners — likely something to factor into the lack of pace from the drivers today.
A team that does well in the slow speed corners is Red Bull. It showed today as both cars were very close to the Mercedes duo. Similarly, due to the lack of power available, McLaren likes it when there’s more corners than straights. This translated into a stellar qualifying performance of 8th and 9th. The chassis is good. The power unit is not.
Sebastian Vettel’s pole time of 1:16.2 is a new track record. Vettel’s time absolutely annihilated Rubens Barrichello’s previous record of 1:18.4 set in 2004. The German driver was on rails today and looks very strong heading into the race tomorrow.
At a track where he is normally strong, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t find any grip or rhythm. Word in the paddock coming into the Grand Prix was that Mercedes is now comfortably ahead of Ferrari. However, after only managing the second row today, the Silver Arrows were well and truly humbled. For Hamilton, his title rival beat him by almost half a second — a massive margin. The title race is still on.
It’s very difficult to overtake at the Hungaroring so tomorrow’s result could already set in stone. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt from this season is that anything can happen.
Nico Hulkenburg was advertising his abilities once again. He managed 7th today, well ahead of his Renault team mate Jolyon Palmer who only managed 11th. However, due to a grid penalty, Hulkenburg will start from 12th tomorrow. Rumors are rife that former Renault super star Robert Kubica could return next year to replace Palmer. After looking like one of the most promising talents in the sport, Kubica suffered major injuries after crashing a rally car in 2011, forcing him to retire from F1.
Williams’ Felipe Massa took ill during P3 and will take no further part this weekend. The last time a Brazilian driver didn’t appear in a race? 1982. Williams reserve driver and current Sky Sports F1 pundit Paul di Resta stepped in as a last minute replacement.
It’s tough ask for di Resta to jump in at such late notice. The last time he drove an F1 car in anger was at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix for Force India, back when the cars were significantly slower and easier to drive. In comparison, the 2017 cars have much larger amounts of power and downforce on tap. Not to mention the larger G forces that the driver is subject to.
Paul starts 19th, just seven tenths off his team mate Lance Stroll. Not bad when you consider that when he woke up this morning he thought he’d be commentating on Qualifying, not actually taking part in it.
