(Budapest) Briton George Russell will start from the lead position in a first Formula 1 Grand Prix, while the Mercedes driver won in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday.
Posted at 11:20 a.m.
Russell beat Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc with a time of 1:17.377, just 44 thousandths better than Sainz and 190 thousandths ahead of Leclerc.
McLaren’s Lando Norris will start alongside Leclerc on the second row.
Driver standings leader Max Verstappen was plagued by mechanical issues late in Q3 and was unable to attempt a fast final lap. He settled for 10e rank. His teammate Sergio Perez was eliminated in Q2 and he will start 11e.
Russell’s Mercedes team-mate, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, was annoyed by a problem with his drag reduction system and he finished seventh.
Quebec driver Lance Stroll of Aston Martin finished 14the. Ontario’s Nicholas Latifi of Williams took 20e and last row.
The rain had complicated the work of the pilots during the last practice session, earlier on Saturday. Latifi took the opportunity to cause a surprise and register the best time of the sequence, ahead of Leclerc and the other Williams driver, Alex Albon.
Despite some dark clouds over the Hongaroring, conditions were dry in qualifying and the track got faster and faster.
Verstappen, the reigning world champion, started the weekend 63 points ahead of Leclerc in the drivers standings.
Leclerc is keen to redeem himself, as he finished the French Grand Prix inside the safety wall last week following a pilot error while leading the race.