The pole was Hamilton’s ninth in 10 races this season, the 47th of his career and left the Briton perfectly placed for a fifth career win at the Hungaroring. PHOTO: AFP
It is the fifth time in succession — ninth this season — that the 30-year-old Briton has out-performed his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in qualifying.
Hamilton’s pole success was his fifth at the Hungaroring circuit where he is the only driver to have won from pole position in the last 10 years.
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Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17 points in the championship standings with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel a distant third, 42 points adrift, after nine races.
It was the 47th pole position of Hamilton’s career and lifted him clear of fellow-Briton Damon Hill with his 18th successive front row start, leaving only legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna to catch on 24.
Four-time world champion Vettel was third fastest ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and Finn Kimi Raikkonen, fifth in the second Ferrari.
The intense heat — the air temperature was 32 degrees Celsius and the track was 54 as qualifying began — meant that tyre degradation became a factor and accentuated the difference between the super-soft compound and the harder ‘medium’ rubber.
Read: Hamilton shines brightest at Silverstone
Hamilton, on the harder tyres, set the early pace with Rosberg, last year’s pole-sitter, struggling.
Outpaced by not only Hamilton, but also Vettel and Ricciardo, Rosberg pitted to switch to softs, forcing Hamilton to follow suit as he dropped to 10th as their rivals trimmed their times.
On softs, Rosberg went top only to be outpaced by Hamilton as the session ended with 2009 champion Briton Jenson Button, a two-time winner at the Hungaroring, taking an early exit in 16th place for McLaren Honda.
Ricciardo took 12th to progress to Q2, the only man to do so using the medium tyres. For last year’s winner, it was proof that he had the confidence to resist the temptation of the softs.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2015.
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