Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
Formula One
F1: Hamilton Nails Competition in Hungary Qualifying
Brit leads McLaren 1-2 with ease at the Hungaroring.
Kevin Krefting  |  Posted August 02, 2008   Budapest, Hungary
An all-McLaren front-row as Hamilton posted his fourth '08 pole. (LAT Photo)

Fresh off two consecutive victories in Britain and Germany, championship points leader Lewis Hamilton continued to be the man to beat in Formula 1 as the McLaren man posted his fourth pole position of the season by posting a 1:20.899 in the final segment of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Brit led a one-two for McLaren, with teammate Heikki Kovalainen 0.241 behind. More importantly for Hamilton, however, was the clear edge of his silver machine over the scarlet cars of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.

The Brazilian was the better of the Ferrari duo in third, 0.3sec behind the leader, while the Finn lagged by a distant 0.6sec and will start on the sixth spot. In between them, the BMW of Robert Kubica and the surprising Toyota of Timo Glock, who, bouncing back from his heavy crash at the Hockenheim, looked set to fight for pole after posting the second-best time in the two previous qualifying segments.

"The pace of our car is great and it is a great day to have me and Heikki 1-2," Hamilton said. "It is about time we did that for the team and we've both done a great job, it is very satisfying. You can never be too comfortable, for sure, but I feel safe to be in the position I am in. We have speed to push on and challenge for the win. Tomorrow is another day and I'll make sure I do the preparations tonight and tomorrow morning.

Despite being in third, Massa believes he can push the McLarens tomorrow.

"I wasn't 100 percent happy with my laps in Q3 because I went onto the track a bit at the wrong time," the Ferrari man said. "There were so many slow cars on their out lap. I like to go flat and quickest but you cannot pass them so it is tricky to prepare the tires. I could not prepare the tires like I was supposed to, and I could not do a great lap like in Q1 and Q2.

"We are pretty strong, we didn't seem to be pretty strong until this morning but then look at laptimes of Q1 and Q2. I think we are there. For sure we are not like the race in Hockenheim, and Silverstone was a big lottery, but we are there and I think I can push these guys tomorrow."

Fernando Alonso’s Renault will line up seventh, ahead of Mark Webber’s Red Bull and Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota. After his maiden podium in Germany, Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. completed the group of Q3 qualifiers.

Leading the pack stuck in Q2 was the impressive Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel, ahead of Jenson Button's Honda and David Coulthard's Red Bull. Sebastien Bourdais in the other Toro Rosso and Williams' Nico Rosberg rounded out the group.

BMW's Nick Heidfeld faced another disappointing qualifying session and will line up 16th, the German compaining of having been blocked by Bourdais in Q1. Behind him will line up the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, Rubens Barrichello's Honda and the two Force Indias.

Download the Hungaroring Wallpaper

Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying results:

1) Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:20.899
2) Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:21.140
3) Massa, Ferrari, 1:21.191
4) Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:21.281
5) Glock, Toyota, 1:21.326
6) Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:21.516
7) Alonso, Renault, 1:21.698
8) Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1:21.732
9) Trulli, Toyota, 1:21.767
10) Piquet, Renault, 1:22.371

11) Vettel, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:20.144
12) Button, Honda, 1:20.332
13) Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault, 1:20.502
14) Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:20.963
15) Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:20.748

16) Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:21.045
17) Nakajima, Williams-Toyota, 1:21.085
18) Barrichello, Honda, 1:21.332
19) Fisichella, Force India-Ferrari, 1:21.670
20) Sutil, Force India-Ferrari, 1:22.113


kkrefting's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kevin Krefting

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.