Russell Takes Maiden F1 Pole In Hungary, Verstappen Tenth
Calum Gill 16:34 30/07/2022
George Russell beat the Ferrari duo to secure his and Mercedes’ first pole position of the 2022 Formula 1 season as a lack of power left Max Verstappen 10th on the grid at the Hungaroring.
Russell earned his maiden F1 pole position with his final flying lap, beating Silverstone polesitter Carlos Sainz by 0.044 seconds. Mercedes was yet to start on the front row prior to this weekend in 2022 but Russell ended that run in style despite not going fastest in any of the three sectors. Charles Leclerc took third on the grid but his ailing title hopes were dealt a huge boost by the suspected engine woes that left Max Verstappen unable to deliver a proper lap. The points leader will start the race from 10th. McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed fourth on the grid ahead of 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon and his Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso. Russell’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton could only manage seventh as his DRS failed on his final run.
He’ll share the fourth row with his former team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who returned his Alfa Romeo to Q3 after a string of Q2 exits. Daniel Ricciardo will line up ninth alongside his own ex-team-mate Verstappen. Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez was the big-name knockout in Q2. He had his first proper lap deleted before it was reinstated, and his final effort - partly baulked by Kevin Magnussen on the entry into Turn 2 - wasn’t fast enough to move him from the 11th place he ended the session in. Guanyu Zhou ended up 12th for Alfa Romeo ahead of Magnussen, who was debuting Haas’ sole 2022 upgrade package, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Mick Schumacher was 15th and slowest in Q2 in the old-spec Haas, once again thwarted by track limits.
AlphaTauri suffered its third double-Q1 exit of the season as Yuki Tsunoda ended up 0.035 seconds short of a place in Q2 in 16th place while Pierre Gasly was only 19th fastest - his worst qualifying result since his sixth F1 weekend in Australia in 2018. Nicholas Latifi, who scored his first F1 points at the Hungaroring last year, topped final practice and went purple in sector one on his final flying lap before he got out of shape at the final corner and was just short of being able to submit one more flying lap, crossing the line about a second too late. He fell four tenths short of Q2 ended up 20th and slowest and allowed his team-mate Alex Albon, who’d struggled to match Latifi throughout Saturday, to qualify ahead of him in 17th place. Sebastian Vettel, who nosed his Aston Martin into the barriers in FP3, was knocked out of Q1 in 18th place and apologised to his team who had rebuilt his car - along with some help from Vettel - prior to qualifying.
