Hamilton charges to 90th F1 pole at Hungarian GP

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton stormed to a record-equalling pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton claimed his 90th career pole and his seventh at the Hungaroring to match seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher’s tally of poles at the circuit.

A 1m13.447s for the Briton - who is aiming for an eighth career win in Hungary to equal Schumacher’s record for most wins at the same circuit - was a new track record.

Mercedes teammate and current championship leader Valtteri Bottas could only get within 0.107s of Hamilton’s benchmark as he made it an all ‘black arrow’ front-row.

Lance Stroll claimed a stunning third on the grid for Racing Point, and he will be joined on the second row by teammate Sergio Perez. Both drivers were nearly a full-second off the pace of the Mercedes.

Such was Mercedes’ dominance, both drivers were able to get through into Q2 on Mediums, the compound they will start the race on. Racing Point were the only other team to mirror Mercedes’ strategy.

Ferrari’s fortunes improved slightly as Sebastian Vettel put his car fifth, a fraction ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc. It marked the first time this season that Ferrari got both its cars into Q3.

Red Bull had been tipped to be Mercedes’ closest challengers in Hungary but Max Verstappen could only manage the seventh-fastest time and was over 1.4s off the pace as he struggled in his RB16.

Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz made it another two-car appearance in Q3 for McLaren in eighth and ninth, while Pierre Gasly failed to set a time after reporting engine-related issues in his Honda-powered AlphaTauri.

Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was unable to progress to the Q3 shootout as he managed the 11th-fastest time, while George Russell once again starred for Williams in qualifying.

Russell had already secured his second consecutive Q2 appearance with a brilliant lap that at one stage was good enough for the third-fastest time, before going to claim 12th-place on the grid.

The Briton outpaced Alex Albon’s Red Bull by 0.017s as the Anglo-Thai racer’s struggles continued in Hungary. He will start a lowly 13th for Sunday’s race.

The second Renault of Esteban Ocon was 14th, ahead of Nicholas Latifi. The Canadian rookie ensured Williams got both its cars into the second segment of qualifying for the first time since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, though he was nearly a second slower than his teammate.

Kevin Magnussen missed out on a spot in Q2 by less than a tenth as he outpaced AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat and Haas teammate Romain Grosjean in 16th.

Alfa Romeo will start the Hungarian Grand Prix from the last row of the grid after a disappointing session, with Antonio Giovinazzi outpacing teammate Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying for the second time this season.

FULL RESULTS FROM QUALIFYING FOR THE 2020 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX.