Lewis Hamilton creates surprise in Hungary by signing his first pole position since 2021, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly eliminated in Q2

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The Mercedes driver dominated the qualifying session of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday to claim his first pole position of the season.

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Lewis Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix, July 22, 2023. (ARPAD KURUCZ / AFP)

New format, new poleman. The introduction of a new rule for this Hungarian Grand Prix, forcing the pilots to compete in Q1 on hard rubber, Q2 on intermediate and Q3 on soft, smiled on Lewis Hamilton. The Briton from Mercedes signed his 104th pole position on Saturday July 22. The first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix where he lost his world championship title to Max Verstappen 33 weekends ago.

Unlike his teammate George Russel and Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), eliminated prematurely in the first and second part of the session, the 38-year-old driver had a perfect afternoon to dominate the Dutchman, unable to improve his time at the end of Q3. For three thousandths in advance, Lewis Hamilton will start in the lead, Sunday on the Hungaroringahead of the Red Bull n°1 and his compatriot Lando Norris (McLaren).

For their part, the French from Alpine Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly achieved very average qualifications, finishing 12th and 15th. Note that Daniel Ricciardo (13th) did better than his teammate at AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda (17th), for his return to Formula 1. Replaced by the 34-year-old driver, Nyck de Vries had only finished twice out of ten ahead of the Japanese in the exercise.


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