We have an all German front row heading into Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after Nico Rosberg took pole position by almost half a second over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
We have an all German front row heading into Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix after Nico Rosberg took pole position by almost half a second over Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
There was a clear contrast in fortune in the Mercedes garage as Lewis Hamilton’s session ended prematurely for the second weekend running. This time around it was a fuel leak caused a fire at the rear of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
There was action throughout the session up and down the grid. Lewis Hamilton was not the only former world champion to bow out at the first hurdle as Kimi Raikkonen also failed to make the cut.
The Ferrari team were caught out by the time difference between the two tyre compounds. Ferrari thought that the Fin’s effort on the prime tyre would be enough to see him through into Q2.
Jules Bianchi improved his time on the options and went quicker than Raikkonen to secure his place in the second part of qualifying. Joining Hamilton and Raikkonen on the sidelines was the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado who suffered with unreliability and did not complete a lap, Max Chilton and the Caterham’s of Kobayashi and Ericcson.
Red Bull vs Mercedes
Reliability issues also hit the Force India of Sergio Perez, after his initial run in Q2 the Mexican was hit with a hydraulic problem that stopped him from taking any further part in the session.
Q2 came to its climax with the Toro Rosso of Danill Kvyat in a spin under braking at turn 12. Sauber had a much stronger showing today and will line up 12th and 14th, much to the surprise of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
Whilst he was told his position over team radio he replied: “We couldn’t even beat Sutil?” The Frenchman has looked frustrated all weekend as his troubled 2014 campaign continues. Grosjean will line up tomorrow in a lonely 15th place.
The Q2 casualties included Jules Bianchi, Romain Grosjean, Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez, Adrian Sutil and Daniil Kvyat.
As Q3 began the rain that threatened to make an appearance arrived, this resulted in the cars flooding out at the start of the session on the dry tyres to try and set a time before the rain increased.
Rosberg was the first to start his Q3 attempt but under braking into turn 1 the German went straight on yet rejoined the track.
Hamilton’s pursuit of a miracle
The championship leader was not the only driver to be caught out by the tricky conditions fortunately for Rosberg he surived his scare unlike Kevin Magnussen who was behind him on track.
Magnussen unfortunately was not so lucky and collided with the tyre wall. Fortunately the Dane was unhurt by the accident and the red flag was deployed following his high speeding meeting with the tyre barrier.
After a short delay the session continued, with the rain stopping and the track getting quicker by the second the times were tumbling fast.
For a minute it looked as if Red Bull may be able to fire their way past the sole remaining Mercedes to take their first pole position of the year, however it was not meant to be.
Nico Rosberg took pole position from Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1:22.715. Behind the two Germans Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo qualified up 4th with the Williams of Valtteri Bottas lining up an impressive fourth.
The rest of the top ten consists of Alonso, Massa, Button, Vergne, Hulkenberg and Magnussen.
Whilst there is a threat of rain during the race tomorrow Nico Rosberg remains the favourite to extend his championship lead to Lewis Hamilton.
Whilst Hamilton came through the field in Germany, Hungary is a different kettle of fish. There are very few places to overtake unlike last weekend at Hockenheim.
Hamilton needs something extra ordinary to salvage something from the race, once again its a race in which the Brit will be looking to limit the damage.
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