F1 Paddock Notebook – Hungarian GP Saturday

- Max Verstappen claimed the first pole position of his Formula 1 career in qualifying on Saturday in Hungary, edging out Valtteri Bottas by just 0.018 seconds in the final stage of qualifying. Verstappen hailed the strength of the Red Bull RB14 chassis after the session, having made impressive gains on his rivals through the final two sectors en route to top spot in Q3.

- Verstappen became the 100th different pole-sitter in F1 history, as well as being the fourth-youngest at 21 years and 307 days, trailing Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc and Fernando Alonso. Verstappen wasn’t bothered by missing out on the record, joking: “It doesn’t help me sleep at night.”

- The result marked Red Bull’s first pole of the season and the first pole for a Honda-powered car since Jenson Button took top spot in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in 2006.

- Verstappen has struggled off the line in recent races due to a mapping problem, but said his practice starts so far this weekend had all been good. “I had a wheelie off the line!” he joked.

- Valtteri Bottas fought back from limited practice running to take P2 on the grid, narrowly missing out on pole. The Finn said it was a “shame” to lose out by such a small margin, but was pleased with the result considering he had missed all of FP1 and lost dry running through FP2 and FP3.

- The start of final practice was delayed by 10 minutes as marshals moved to clear up an oil spill at Turns 4 and 5 caused by Formula 2 driver Ralph Boschung after an engine failure in the Feature Race. The slick was covered in concrete dust that resulted in large clouds being thrown up throughout the session, as well as leaving white patches across the uphill complex of corners.

- Lewis Hamilton qualified third for Mercedes, but was shown to have not used DRS in the final run to the chequered flag in Q3. Hamilton missed out on a front row spot by 0.170s.

- Charles Leclerc made no excuses following his spin and brush with the wall in Q1 that forced Ferrari into changing his front wing. The Monegasque driver was typically harsh on himself, calling the mistake “completely unnecessary” and admitting he was “very lucky” to not be ruled out of the session altogether. Leclerc’s car escaped any major damage despite a hard-hit on the rear, allowing him to qualify P4.

- Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel said the team’s struggles in Hungary could be seen a long way off given its difficulties in slow-speed corners. Vettel ailed to fifth in qualifying, and said the team’s hopes of challenging for the podium rest on a hot race tomorrow that is tough on tyres.

- Pierre Gasly had a difficult qualifying as he only finished sixth-fastest, eight-tenths of a second off his teammate on pole. Lewis Hamilton made note of Gasly’s result in the post-qualifying press conference, saying it would make life more difficult for Verstappen at the front as he looked to fight both Mercedes alone.

- All of the top six drivers will start Sunday’s race on Medium tyres, with Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen starting on Softs from P7 through P10.

- Grosjean’s impressive form with the Australia-spec Haas continued as he reached Q3 for the second race in a row. With teammate Kevin Magnussen starting down in P15, it may ease some of the pressure for Haas when it comes to team orders after their recent clashes.

- One of the stand-out stories from qualifying was George Russell’s run to 16th for Williams, marking his best Saturday result yet in F1. Russell was an agonizing 0.054s off a place in Q2 after being bumped out late on by Nico Hulkenberg, but still managed to outqualify both Racing Points and the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo. Russell said his final Q1 effort had been like a pole lap for Williams after its struggles so far this year, and put much of the step in performance down to a better understanding of his tyres. Russell outqualified teammate Robert Kubica by a mammoth 1.3 seconds.

- Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez were both left feeling aggrieved after losing their final laps in Q1 while they slowed at the final corner. Ricciardo felt he’d missed a chance to reach Q3, while Perez said the Renault driver had been “very disrespectful” in trying to pass at the final corner before starting the hot lap. Neither driver advanced from Q1 as a result of their run-in.

- Antonio Giovinazzi will drop to P17 on the grid tomorrow after receiving a three-place grid penalty for blocking Lance Stroll during Q1. Giovinazzi also picked up one penalty point for the incident, taking him up to four for the 12-month period.

- Lando Norris has moved onto his third MGU-H of the season ahead of Sunday’s race, as confirmed by the FIA post-qualifying. As he remains within the seasonal limit, there will be no penalty.

- F1 CEO and chairman Chase Carey hosted a meeting with the team bosses on Saturday to discuss next year’s calendar, which is set to expand to 22 races after the late saving of the Spanish Grand Prix. Mercedes chief Toto Wolff confirmed agreement had been reached between the teams for a 22nd race next year.

- The Hungarian Grand Prix begins at 1410 BST on Sunday.