Formula 1 Hungary Qualifying: Who will take pole in Orbanistan?

The next F1 race will be held in beautiful Hungary this weekend. Who will take pole in Orbanistan?

Q1

In damp conditions, Hulkenberg is the first to take to the track. When the rain starts to come down harder, the first laps are of course crucial. Sargeant puts in a decent lap, but then overbrakes in the first corner and hits the boarding. The American continues to struggle to keep the Williams on track.

Perez is also in a difficult phase in his career. And he also crashes into the wall. End of qualifying for the Mexican and a red flag. After an eleven-minute delay we continue. However, DRS may not be used… Yet ‘green’ times are still possible, as we see at the bottom of the screen. So there may still be some change in the pecking order. Good news for Ricciardo, Stroll, Magnussen, Zhou and Hülkenberg.

What’s the name. Ricciardo suddenly goes to P1. And apart from Zhou, the rest also drive safely. That is at the expense of Perez, but also of Russell and the two Alpines. The winner of Austria is also out. Crikey.

Q2

Of course, everyone knows that normally the track will be fastest again at the end. At the same time; you should set that time ‘just in case’. Everyone does that except Ricciardo. Whether that is by choice or because of a problem is not clear. But at the end of the ride DR3 does go out ‘normally’.

Hamilton then has to sweat because his lap is not great. He sets a 1:16.307. The strategists have figured out that a 1:16.3 will be the ‘cutoff’. That turns out to be miraculously correct. HAM seems to fly out at the end. But both Hulkenberg and Bottas just bite their teeth against the seven-time champion. The two Williamses and Magnussen are also out. The two VCARBs are allowed to continue and Aston is also there again with two cars. Just like McLaren and Ferrari, but for them that is slightly less special.

Q3

It seems to be about the battle between Max and the McLarens again. But there is also some rain in the air, so who knows. Possibly everyone only gets 1 chance. Verstappen is the first on the track. His first sector is purple. His second sector is purple. The third sector: also purple. Piastri is three tenths slower. Sainz gives 6.5 tenths. Hamilton and Leclerc are slightly faster than the Spaniard, but do not come close to Max.

Pole then for the Dutchman? Maybe not! Norris makes the difference in the second sector. At the finish he is still three tenths faster than Verstappen. The battle between these two friends is going to be colorful this year.

Then the rain slowly starts to drip. But the first ones on the track are still trying to improve! That could be Norris’ disadvantage. He was the last to do his first run. Piastri is 22 thousandths short of NOR. Verstappen is also close, but he is 46 thousandths short. Phew… Norris has more or less taken pole. But there is still a twist.

Tsunoda hits the wall hard, bringing out the second red flag of the session. There is still 2:13 left on the clock, so in theory drivers can do an outlap and timed lap. McLaren only has used softs left. But they do go out. A little bit of getting in the way can make all the difference… Max will get out.

Nothing else changes, except that Ricciardo still sets a time that is enough to pass Tsunoda for P9. Important for the internal duel, but not exciting. What is clear is that this could still be a very exciting year if it continues like this. Especially if McLaren scores the 1-2 tomorrow and Perez keeps messing around. We are certainly looking forward to it!