Super Vettel on pole as Red Bulls dominate

Qualifying top three (L to R): Fernando Alonso (third) Sebastian Vettel (pole position) and Mark Webber (second)

Jul.31 (YallaF1.com) Sebastian Vettel did the inevitable during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest, he took pole position in dominant style. No one had an answer for the German’s pace around Hungaroring. Not even team mate Mark Webber who gave it his best shot, as usual.

Deja vu for Sebastian Vettel celebrating another pole position in parc ferme

The whole weekend has been all about Red Bull at the top of the timing screens. The Adrian Newey designed RB6 is simply a class above everything else in Budapest. The best racing car in the world at the moment, no doubt.

Thus the shootout for top slot on the grid was a two man show with Webber going fastest in Q2 and thus showing his intent. With no one to challenge the Red Bull duo, except themselves, both Webber and Vettel were up for a fight in what was the Q3 showdown among the Bulls.

The Australian went first and immediately popped the fastest lap of the weeknd 1 minute 19.184 seconds on first run, not long after Vettel dug deep and put down a mega-lap that would in the end be good enough for pole, 1 minute 18.773 seconds was a huge effort and Vettel the only driver into the 78 second zone. Game over.

Webber had a another stab at the time but was nowhere near and Vettel was not far behind him providing cover. So for the second race in a week Vettel will start from pole position.

Vettel said afterwards, “It was a very good day for us. All weekend here we felt very comfortable with the car and we were able to improve it another bit overnight. I said on the radio to the boys ‘this is your moment’. I said ‘you built this wonderful car’. It was a pleasure to drive. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. This circuit suits us. You need to know the track but you need to have the car.”

Sebastian Vettel and the RB6 are proving to be a formidable combination

He also acknowledged that he is driving a very special car in Budapest, “The track suits our car so we are little bit quicker than the rest. We found the problem from last week that made the bad start so hopefully we can have a normal start tomorrow. Usually in Hungary it is important to be on the clean side. The start is important but there are 70 laps after that. It will be an exciting race tomorrow.”

Webber was magnanimous and acknowledged his team mate’s effort, “I did my best today. I probably didn’t put in the cleanest lap on the first flyer but, hey, that’s the way it goes. I’m sure there’s a bit more for both of us to get out of the car again as well. I’m still in a great position – congratulations to Seb, he deserves pole – but we can both have a great race tomorrow for sure.”

Fernando Alonso was best of the rest and will start from thrid on the grid

Best of the rest, all weekend in fact, was Fernando Alonso who set the third fastest time will head up the second row but will be wondering how to close the 1.214 seconds gap between himself and Vettel.

The Spaniard said afterwards, “We found a big gap between Red Bull and us this weekend, so we maximised our potential today. We did our job which is to be best of the rest. Hopefully tomorrow we can make it a more difficult race for them because so far this weekend it has been too easy. The start is important, it is difficult to overtake. Strategy will be important but we know the start will be 60-70% of the race.”

Felipe Massa, returning to the venue of his terrible accident a year ago in qualifying, will be happy with fourth place on the grid making it an all red second row in Budapest.

Lewis Hamilton was best of the Mercedes powered brigade

Heading up row three will be World Championship points leader Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) who made the most of his MP4-25, which is clearly lagging in comparison to the front run ners, to set the fifth best time and best of the Mercedes brigade.

Hamilton told BBC, “It (fifth on the grid) was really my target. Well, your target is always pole, but the Red Bulls are impossible to beat – they are 1.7secs ahead. For Jenson and me, we just look at the onboard footage and laugh. I don’t know what they (Red Bull) are doing, but it’s incredible. It was possible I could get close to Massa, but I don’t think I could have beaten him today. I pulled every inch out of the car and I’m happy with the job I did. We’ve got to work hard but it’s a good position to start tomorrow. It’s a long haul down to Turn One so anything’s possible. Fourth or third would be spectacular.”

Nico Rosberg was sixth fastest

Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) makes row three an all Mercedes affair. The German will be happy to have set the sixth best time of  the day, during a weekend where the team has not gone forward as Rosberg pointed out, “We have taken a small step back with our upgrades.”

Renault’s Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov sprung the biggest surprise in the battle between team mates by out qualifying Robert Kubica. Credit to the Russian who has looked strong all weekend and easily the best of the rookies.

Petrov, who will head up the all yellow fourth row on the grid, said “”We knew our car would be quick here. To work hard, we improved some parts, we brought some new parts. Always when you drive around you are never thinking about beating your team-mate, you just focus on your lap time. I know this circuit quite well and this is why I did well today.”

Vitaly Petrov having an impressive weekend in Budapest

Pedro de la Rosa ((Sauber) extensively outclassed his team mate, making it into Q3 and managing the ninth best time. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams) was best of the Cosworth powered brigade and will share the fifth row with De la Rosa.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner will be satisfied with the team’s performance and will have to focus on managing his drivers. Horner told BBC, “This was probably our most dominant qualifying of the year. The track suits the car well, with not many straights and lots of corners which is perfect for us. But we have seen the Ferraris and McLaren are closer in race trim. As for the talk about our front wing – the regulations are clear, there is a clear FIA test the cars have to pass. We’re happy the car complies. This week it’s front wing, before that it was active suspension, before that diffuser. The team should take it as a compliment. We’re focused on our own performance, hopefully we can get two good starts and get our heads down and leave the rest behind.”

Q1: Glock steals it from Lotus on final flyer

Timo Glock was best of the new team drivers

Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) was the slowest of the established team drivers and thus failed to make it into the Q2 zone  and will start the race from 18th on the grid.

Timo Glock (Virgin Racing) got the better of the Lotus pair with his final flyer in Q1 which will see him start from 19th on the grid best of the new team drivers.

Next to the German on row ten will be Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) who ended the session 20th.

Heading up row 11 will be Jarno Trulli (Lotus) who complained that he was held up on his flyer by no less than Vettel. Next to him, 22nd fastest, will be Lucas di Grassi (Virgin Racing).

Sharing the last row, again, will be Hispania racing duo of Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, 23rd and 24th respectively.

At the top of the timing screens it was Red Bulls and Ferraris with a Renault thrown in for good measure, with the Silver Arrows looking in but McLaren boys struggling.

Q2: Early shower for Button and Schumacher

Michael Schumacher has not looked comfortable in Budapest so far

Biggest scalp to fall in Q2 was Jenson Button who has been uneasy in the McLaren Mercedes throughout the weekend in Budapest, only managing 11th best time in the session which will see him head up row six for the race alongside Rubens Barrichello.

Button said, “In practice I had good balance, but I struggled with the car in qualifying. I was OK on the prime tyres, but I couldn’t get the options working. It’s tough, but we were never going to be on the front two rows here. At least I’m on the clean side of the grid. We can still pick up good points.”

Force India’s Adrian Sutil  will head up row seven with seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP alongside, fourteenth on the grid and failing to make it in to Q2 yet again.

Best of the Toro Rosso pair was Sebastien Buemi who will start the race from 15th on the grid, with team mate Jaime Alguersuari behind him in 17th. Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi will start between the duo from 16th on the grid.

At the top again Red Bulls were simply miles ahead of anyone with Webber showing his intent by going fractionally quicker than Vettel. Up next, albeit nearly a second down, was Alonso followed by Petrov, Rosberg, Massa, Kubica, Hamilton, De La Rosa and Hulkenberg scraping into the top ten.

Qualifying Results – 31 July 2010