07/19/2020 - 9:40
- Clarín.com
- sports
Briton Lewis Hamilton looks to ratify his dominance in Formula 1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which reappeared at the Styrian Grand Prix last week after a poor start to the championship. The six-time world champion had the best time in the qualifying tests this Saturday and was the first time on the grid in the third test of the Formula 1 season at the Hungaroring.
The rain revolutionized the beginning of the race. What happened? The pilots had to go through the pits to adapt their tires to the new conditions and teamwork was essential for the luck of each of the competitors.
The best stopped was Lewis Hamilton, although those who took the best advantage of the situation were the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, who climbed to third and fourth position, respectively. Instead, Ferrari again gave Sebastian Vettel reason to regret, who was delayed by an eternal pit stop from which he came out in eighth place.
A threatening sky, with clouds that had thought that at any time the rain could become the protagonist, kept the teams on edge during the day on Saturday, who had to weigh the risks when choosing the appropriate tires for each moment of the classification .
Finally the rain waited, since only a few drops fell at the end of the session. And Hamilton, who won last Sunday at the Styrian Grand Prix, made clear again the superiority of the Mercedes team: he traveled the 4,381 meters of the track in 1: 13,447, set a new record at the racetrack located in Mogyoród, 30 kilometers from Budapest, and achieved the 90th pole position of his career.
A 90th pole position in F1 🙇♂️
A 7th pole position in Hungary 👏
Another Saturday and another qualifying masterclass from @ LewisHamilton # HungarianGP 🇭🇺 # F1 pic.twitter.com/Z7hwOivv0L
At 107 thousandths of the six-time world champion was his teammate, the Finnish Valtteri Bottas, for the moment leader of the championship, who had been the fastest in the third session of free practice.
"I need to pinch myself because it's pretty impressive (having reached 90 poles). I work with an incredible group of people and Valtteri doesn't make it easy for me, it requires absolute perfection. Classification is one of the things I enjoy the most, ”said Hamilton.
Valtteri Bottas will try to defend the first place in the Formula 1 championship on Sunday (Photo: Darko Bandic / AP)
“I knew it was going to be close. The lap was really good, but Lewis did a very good job of getting pole. As a team we were at a really high level. Tomorrow will be an endurance race between us until turn 1. I am sure that the first lap will be interesting, ”said Bottas.
Behind the Mercedes were the two pink vehicles of the Racing Point team: the Canadian Lance Stroll was third, 930 thousandths from Hamilton, and the Mexican Sergio Pérez was fourth, 1,098 second from the Englishman. "The car was really strong at all times, we had a rhythm and this puts us in a good position for tomorrow, so I am very happy," Stroll said.
Young Lance Stroll achieved a creditable third place in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo: Darko Bandic / AP)
Further back were the Ferrari of the German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc. The top 10 were completed by the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the British Lando Norris (McLaren), the Spanish Carlos Sainz (McLaren) and the French Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).