Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: QUALIFYING REPORT
It’s the final race weekend before the summer break and here is your Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying Report as it happened.
You can also see reaction following the qualifying session along with driver interviews – scroll to see more….
Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
Qualifying 1 – Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
Before qualifying took place we found out they Felipe Massa would NOT be taking part due to being unwell – as a result Paul Di Resta took his place.
Throughout Qualifying 1 – Hamilton was unhappy on his tyres, feeling vibrations and not getting the balance right.
Ferrari looking strong throughout.
Just after the first qualifying session we also saw Di Resta going through a practice start.
Qualifying 1 – Knock Out Zone
Magnussen
Stroll
Wehrlein
Di Resta
Ericsson
Qualifying 2 – Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
The two McLaren’s made it through to Q2.
Ferrari once again looking strong. Their car looks balanced and both drivers putting in good times.
Red Bull have definitely improved over the last few races but here, we’re seeing a new side to them with the new additions on their car.
Hamilton once again struggling with his car although he went off track and is feeling vibrations in the car from the tyres – he splits the Ferrari’s.
Verstappen also looking strong, putting in a better time than Hamilton and going up to 2nd.
Vandoorne and Alonso both looking better this weekend – they’re also looking better ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton breaks the track record in Q2 with a 1:16.693 – Ferrari in the meantime are both in the pits.
Qualifying 2 – Knock Out Zone
Palmer
Ocon
Kvyat
Perez
Grosjean
Qualifying 3 – Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
Onto the final Qualifying session and both McLaren’s are through which is nice to see.
Hamilton once again radioing through to his team and saying that there’s strong vibrations in the car – it’s something that he’s been saying throughout the Qualifying sessions.
His team-mate Bottas looks a lot happier in the car.
Sebastian Vettel sets a new track record with a time of – 1:16.276 we expected to see track times improving this weekend.
Once again, Red Bull looking strong with both Ricciardo and Verstappen setting great times.
Bottas also setting great times, he’s looking stronger than his team-mate and it seems that his confidence as a driver is constantly growing which is great to see.
Hamilton once again telling his team that there’s “big vibrations in these tyres” – again, unhappy with the car and how it’s feeling. He’s gone off-track and generally not looking as strong as he normally does.
Both Ferrari’s looking VERY strong in this qualifying session.
It’s Sebastian Vettel on pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen in 2nd.
Bottas in 3rd.
Here are the driver reactions right after Qualifying.
DRIVER INTERVIEWS – Hungarian Grand Prix: Qualifying Report
Top 3 Drivers
Sebastian Vettel – “The car all day has been feeling incredible. It’s been an enjoyable day and I really like this track. To see the sunshine, to see the people – I’m a big fan and this is incredible, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Vettel – “Nothing has changed, we are all working hard. The last race wasn’t great but that doesn’t matter, we are all taking things step by step and happy where we are as a team. Thank you to the support and for the people believing in us. The main task is tomorrow.”
Kimi Raikkonen – “Obviously, the start was not too good. I braked on the outside and didn’t have the best lap but it was decent enough for 2nd place. I felt like I had it today.”
Raikkonen – “If you look at the lap times you will see that this was for us, we are pretty happy with things. We improved the car for qualifying but tomorrow it is the race and it’s going to be good and we will keep it all going.”
Valtteri Bottas – “They (Ferrari) have been quick all weekend and we knew that we would be close and tough to beat. They have everything right for this track but we obviously have more work to do.”
Bottas – “It’s clear to see that we are not performing as we want and we are now focusing on the race tomorrow and anything is possible.”
Vettel – “My summer break starts on Monday but not even that – we have to test next week! It’s way too early, we go racing and that’s what we have been doing and what we will be doing. We have a lot of boost from people and we have a great feeling, the main thing is to enjoy the moment.”
More Driver Reaction
Paul Di Resta – “I was nervous, I was anxious, I was scared – I was everything. These cars are at the top of their game, it’s like driving the best balanced car and ultimately the team prepared me as best as they could. I had a small lock-up but that’s purely just the braking style.”
Di Resta – “It was unreal, I was very safe in the high-speeds and it’s just about getting your feelings in the car again. When you get in a Formula 1 car, everybody has their eyes on you and everyone picks up on your mistakes.”
Di Resta – “The layout on the steering wheel is my layout, everything is set-up to suit each driver.”
Lewis Hamilton – “Yes, this hasn’t been the easiest of most straightforward weekend. Generally the lap times were good but not in Q3.”
Hamilton – “Ferrari have shown they’re quick, we knew they would have pace. I don’t know if it’s an upgrade or what but they have been quick as they howed.”
Hamilton – “You can’t overtake here so we have to
work on the strategy and see who it goes.”
Max Verstappen – “I’ve been happy in the car, this is the first time I have been happy in the car for a very long time and I think the whole season I have been struggling with it.”
Verstappen – “We have managed to turn things around this weekend and I’m very happy with it. I changed a lot on the car and could never find the right balance so we made a lot of changes and a lot of thinking went into the car.”
Verstappen – “Even this morning, we made a few more changes and now I’m a lot happier, the car feels better and when the car is good in Qualifying, it should be good in the long run and I’m very happy we can go further.”
Verstappen – “In the beginning for the upgrades it was difficult on my side and then it was the same for Daniel. We can’t turn up our engine in the same way Mercedes do but we are there, we are more or less there.”
Daniel Ricciardo – “We just lost out a bit this morning and it’s hard to come back from that. It’s quite a different car and it didn’t really work. It would have been nice to have the same pace that we had yesterday.”
Ricciardo – “I knew that our car wasn’t great this morning but I definitely believe that I can mover forward. It’s just frustrating as yesterday it felt like we could have been on the front and now we’ve gone back.”
Fernando Alonso – “We knew before coming here that this was a circuit where we could be competitive and fight for 6th and 7th and 8th and so far we have confirmed this.”
Alonso – “Tomorrow is the main day where we can confirm the results and driving here, we all love it – it’s a track where the driver has a bit more input. We have a lot of fans here and the weather should be nice too so hoping for a good race.”
Stoffel Vandoorne – “Yeah it’s good to get both cars into Q3 and tomorrow hopefully we can score some more points. Its been a good weekend for us and hopefully we can carry this through to tomorrow.”
Vandoorne – “It felt pretty good actually, we have quite a strong car and it feels good in the corners. Whether it’s a match for Mercedes of Ferrari, I’m not too sure and we have maximised the most out of our package today.”
Esteban Ocon – “We lack a bit of pack and downforce and we have been working. The feeling has improved since yesterday and we are a bit faster in the race so we are looking for opportunities tomorrow.”
Sergio Perez – “I haven’t been comfortable with the car this weekend and it has caused issues. I have adapted my car to my driving style but in general this weekend the main problem has been the balance and that’s what I’ve been struggling with.”
Jolyon Palmer – “I should be starting in the top 10 as there’s a grid penalty ahead. We have new strategy options so we will see what we can do from there. We have more downforce on the car and we’re missing a bit of straight line speed and see if we can sort out the strategy and tick a few more boxes.”
Team Principals – Hungarian Grand Prix: QUALIFYING REPORT
(Mercedes) Toto Wolff – “It started bad today, Lewis didn’t get on with the car. Valtteri was better but not 100% and in Qualifying the car was better compared to the weekend. We have to analyse things and see what happened but overall things were comrpomised.”
Wolff – “Strategy wise is what we are looking at for tomorrow as there’s not much else that you can do here.”
(Ferrari) Maurizio Arrivabene – “The guys have been quite calm and they have worked on the car knowing the potential. They have been working all weekend and working late to improve what they can.”
Arrivabene – “Giovinazzi is a part of our team and he gave us a lot of information which is a part of the pole position today.”
There’s lots coming soon and tomorrow you’ll be able to see everything as it happens, before, during and after the race!
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
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