Mercedes weathered a rain-soaked qualifying session to lock out the front row of the grid for the sixth time this year. However they’ve only converted one of those into a one-two finish, and with the Red Bulls lurking Sunday may not be entirely straightforward.
The battle between the Mercedes drivers also promises to deliver much intrigue. Lewis Hamilton, second on the grid, has usually been the quicker of the two Mercedes this weekend but circumstances played against him in Q3, aiding Nico Rosberg’s bid for pole position.
As usual the start will be especially vital at a track where overtaking opportunities are limited. Last year Hamilton went off on the first lap of this race trying to pass his team mate.
The Hungaroring has one of the longest runs to the first corner of any track on the calendar: over 600 metres. An even slightly poor getaway could bring an especially severe punishment.
One consequence of the rain-hit qualifying session is that drivers now have more fresh sets of tyres to use in the race (see below). The likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa, followingto their problems in qualifying, have extra unused super-soft tyres to throw at their car which could be useful for a late blast after a helpfully-timed Safety Car period.
However it’s far from certain they will need slick tyres all the way tomorrow. The weather forecast for this weekend has been in a constant state of flux and further thunderstorms are possible tomorrow afternoon.
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Qualifying times in full
| Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’33.302 | 1’22.806 (-10.496) | 1’19.965 (-2.841) |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.210 | 1’24.836 (-9.374) | 1’20.108 (-4.728) |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’39.968 | 1’23.234 (-16.734) | 1’20.280 (-2.954) |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’40.424 | 1’22.660 (-17.764) | 1’20.557 (-2.103) |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’35.718 | 1’24.082 (-11.636) | 1’20.874 (-3.208) |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1’36.115 | 1’24.734 (-11.381) | 1’21.131 (-3.603) |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’35.165 | 1’23.816 (-11.349) | 1’21.211 (-2.605) |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’37.983 | 1’24.456 (-13.527) | 1’21.597 (-2.859) |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1’41.471 | 1’23.901 (-17.570) | 1’21.823 (-2.078) |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1’42.758 | 1’24.506 (-18.252) | 1’22.182 (-2.324) |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’35.906 | 1’24.941 (-10.965) | |
| 12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1’36.714 | 1’25.301 (-11.413) | |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’41.411 | 1’25.416 (-15.995) | |
| 14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’36.853 | 1’25.435 (-11.418) | |
| 15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 1’38.959 | 1’26.189 (-12.770) | |
| 16 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1’37.772 | 1’27.063 (-10.709) | |
| 17 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1’43.965 | ||
| 18 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’43.999 | ||
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1’44.543 | ||
| 20 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’46.984 | ||
| 21 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1’47.343 | ||
| 22 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1’50.189 |
Sector times
| Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nico Rosberg | 28.308 (3) | 28.759 (1) | 22.662 (2) |
| Lewis Hamilton | 27.955 (1) | 29.290 (4) | 22.519 (1) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 28.347 (4) | 29.016 (3) | 22.751 (4) |
| Max Verstappen | 28.364 (5) | 29.010 (2) | 22.726 (3) |
| Sebastian Vettel | 28.267 (2) | 29.356 (6) | 22.956 (7) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 28.738 (8) | 29.329 (5) | 22.932 (6) |
| Fernando Alonso | 28.681 (7) | 29.634 (8) | 22.896 (5) |
| Jenson Button | 28.614 (6) | 29.802 (9) | 23.062 (8) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 28.771 (9) | 29.625 (7) | 23.343 (10) |
| Valtteri Bottas | 28.820 (10) | 30.004 (10) | 23.080 (9) |
| Romain Grosjean | 30.483 (13) | 30.913 (12) | 23.545 (13) |
| Daniil Kvyat | 30.448 (12) | 31.330 (15) | 23.523 (12) |
| Sergio Perez | 30.000 (11) | 31.840 (16) | 23.466 (11) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 31.030 (16) | 30.836 (11) | 23.569 (14) |
| Esteban Gutierrez | 30.512 (14) | 31.304 (14) | 24.373 (15) |
| Felipe Nasr | 30.972 (15) | 31.242 (13) | 24.395 (16) |
| Jolyon Palmer | 33.700 (19) | 38.150 (19) | 29.629 (19) |
| Felipe Massa | 35.621 (21) | 38.770 (20) | 28.937 (17) |
| Kevin Magnussen | 34.281 (20) | 37.367 (18) | 29.562 (18) |
| Marcus Ericsson | 35.903 (22) | 39.711 (21) | 30.330 (21) |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 33.287 (17) | 36.019 (17) | 29.775 (20) |
| Rio Haryanto | 33.686 (18) | 41.358 (22) | 30.391 (22) |
Speed trap
| Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 321.4 (199.7) | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Mercedes | 320.0 (198.8) | -1.4 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | Mercedes | 319.6 (198.6) | -1.8 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 319.1 (198.3) | -2.3 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 318.4 (197.8) | -3.0 |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 316.9 (196.9) | -4.5 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 316.7 (196.8) | -4.7 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 314.2 (195.2) | -7.2 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Honda | 313.5 (194.8) | -7.9 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 311.9 (193.8) | -9.5 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 307.1 (190.8) | -14.3 |
| 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | Ferrari | 306.7 (190.6) | -14.7 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 304.2 (189.0) | -17.2 |
| 14 | Rio Haryanto | Manor | Mercedes | 303.3 (188.5) | -18.1 |
| 15 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | Mercedes | 302.9 (188.2) | -18.5 |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 302.3 (187.8) | -19.1 |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | Ferrari | 300.9 (187.0) | -20.5 |
| 18 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | Renault | 300.3 (186.6) | -21.1 |
| 19 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 299.0 (185.8) | -22.4 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | Renault | 296.5 (184.2) | -24.9 |
| 21 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 292.1 (181.5) | -29.3 |
| 22 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 291.8 (181.3) | -29.6 |
Remaining tyre sets
| Medium | Soft | Super-soft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Team | New | Used | New | Used | New | Used |
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Sergio Perez | Force India | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Jenson Button | McLaren | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Manor | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Rio Haryanto | Manor | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Esteban Gutierrez | Haas | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
Over to you
Is this going to be another Mercedes benefit?Can Red Bull fight for the victory in Hungary?
Share your views on the Hungarian Grand Prix in the comments.
2016 Hungarian Grand Prix
- 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Raikkonen’s rise to sixth earns Driver of the Weekend win
- Rosberg ‘surprised Hamilton is suddenly a fan of safety’
- Drivers to demand yellow flag clarification
- Few excited by Hungarian GP “chess match”
lockup (@)
23rd July 2016, 22:58
Anything could happen, and it probably will!
We could to with Max or Dan outbraking everyone into T1, ideally.
x303 (@x303)
24th July 2016, 0:02
And then cruise to the flag? That would be exciting, for sure…
Keisalex
23rd July 2016, 23:14
Bottas improved 18 seconds in his Q1 time into Q2.
The Lad :D
Atticus (@atticus-2)
23rd July 2016, 23:22
The Flying Finn. :D
t3x
23rd July 2016, 23:30
Fight from behind? he is only second ! :)
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
23rd July 2016, 23:38
@t3x I did a double take on that myself.
Journalism!!
t3x (@t3x)
24th July 2016, 0:56
Yeah I thought click bait was for YouTube only :(
BasCB (@bascb)
24th July 2016, 11:08
Maybe we already expect him to have a bad start @tx3, @stubbornswiss!
San
24th July 2016, 1:15
…which is behind Rosberg. What’s your point?
t3x
24th July 2016, 2:17
No point, simply that “behind” made me think I missed something and he was starting from far behind, not the first row.
San
24th July 2016, 14:49
I understand, but to be fair, it’s not like Hamilton is fighting anyone else.
NeoGalaxy (@neogalaxy)
24th July 2016, 11:01
I don’t understand the title either, but it’s dissapointing to see it. It’s like he was the 1st always and there was none other on pole-position. Also I’ve never seen a title “Rosberg will have to fight from behind again”. Must hurt a lot that Rosberg got lucky with his lap yesterday… but hell the championship is not ended so can’t hurt that much… come on!
Wooolfy
24th July 2016, 0:44
Hamilton’s sector times are very telling. He has pace over Nico, no wonder he is happy starting 2nd.
Mark
24th July 2016, 0:51
It wasnt last year…..no reason to think it will be this year.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
24th July 2016, 2:17
“Hamilton has to fight from behind again” It is true but over dramatic maybe. I played Ham for pole so that’s my drama. I’m sad that Palmer wasn’t able to carry his Saturday morning form for a second I though Renault had sorted their issues in the mid season test. I still believe in Jolyon or rather I don’t rate Magnussen at all.
MelF1
24th July 2016, 7:34
First corner drama. Saftey car deployments. New race winner. Manor in points. COTD or Prediction of the day.
Mr Fruit
24th July 2016, 8:34
Watch out for Vettel. Ferrari is much faster than qualy pace showed. If you look at the sector times Vettel was doing for Button accidentally got in the way, he’d have easily been ahead of the Red Bulls – definite dark horse for the race
Duke
24th July 2016, 8:55
Mercedes now has a moral obligation to let Lewis take the first place.
I hope justice will be served or Mercedes’ bad sportsmanship will have consequences.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
24th July 2016, 10:58
This is some artificial drama made by the FIA, Rosberg did not slow enough and therefore should have lost his pole.
But deep down Rosberg is giving his everything to win the crown this year no matter what it takes, the contract renewal will boost him anyhow.
I am really gutted with the FIA decision, it is turning to a joke but a bad one.
Markp
24th July 2016, 11:14
The greyst of all areas. There are no rules specifying an exact amount to slow down just to lift which he did. He should be prepared to stop but anyone could argue they are prepared to stop even when flat out if something appears in front of them. Mountain out of a mole hill about this.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
24th July 2016, 10:59
I really hope accurate weather predictions will be provided. We can waste hours trying to predict what will happen in the first corner, but if there is a safety car start it’s a completely different ballgame of course.