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George Russell Secures Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix

Day two of the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix has come to an end. Drivers had to battle each other and the elements during FP3, as rain fell over the Hungaroring. Most of the drivers went for a safe approach, which means lap times were almost 30 seconds slower than they were on day 1. But Nicholas Latifi had nothing to lose today, and his FP3 pace was enough to put him in P1 for the first time in his career.
George Russell Secures Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix 26 photos
Photo: Mercedes-Benz Group AG
George Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand PrixGeorge Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix
But the stakes aren't that high during free practice. Everyone was anxiously waiting for the qualifying session, which started at 4 PM GMT+2. Rain would bother the drivers no longer, so everyone was back to the pace you'd expect to see during a Formula 1 event.

Valtteri Bottas got a taste of being the fastest man on the track right after the start of Q1. But his former Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton ruined his moment shortly after, while Lance Stroll landed in third place. Of course, at this point in the qualifying session, you never know who is going to outrun you next.

Verstappen came in strong, and Red Bull fans cheered as the Dutch driver set a fast lap of 1:19.020 minutes, while George Russell was about 0.8 seconds slower overall. With 13 minutes to go until the end of Q1, Leclerc went out of the pits, and it wouldn't take long for him to once again reveal his potential.

Both Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas came relatively close to Verstappen, but Max raised the bar again with 10 minutes to go for this first session. Carlos Sainz crossed the line within 0.525 seconds of the leader, which had him sitting in a temporary P4.

George Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Photo: Ferrari
Some four minutes later, Ferrari fans were happy to see first Leclerc then Sainz in P2, even though it seemed that would be the end of it for Q1. But the fight was far from over. By the end of Q1, both Mercedes drivers were on top of the leaderboard, as Lewis Hamilton set the pace at 1:18.374 minutes.

George Russell was just 0.033 seconds behind in P2. Carlos Sainz took P3 for Ferrari, while Leclerc was down in eighth. With Verstappen sitting in P4, everyone marveled at the fighting spirit of both McLaren drivers as Norris was fifth and Ricciardo seventh.

Meanwhile, both Alpine drivers finished inside the Top10, while Alfa Romeo and Haas must have celebrated the fact that they would be moving on to Q2. Sergio Perez finished in P13, which was quite shocking to see, frankly.

The drivers that were knocked out at the end of Q1 were Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly from Alpha Tauri, Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi from Williams Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel from Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes.

George Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Photo: Mercedes-Benz Group AG
Q2 was equally as exciting as the first session. Magnussen took the lead for a moment there but was soon replaced by Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, and then Norris. But Norris couldn't hold on for long either, as Max Verstappen dipped below the 1-minute and 18 seconds mark.

The battle for the midfield was intense, to say the least, and at one point, Lewis Hamilton was below the line. With less than 5 minutes to go, he went all out and secured a well-deserved P3, with his teammate down in P5. But they each go two positions further down the board, as Leclerc finished Q2 in second with Alonso and Sainz hot on his tracks.

While Q1 didn't go all that well for Sergio Perez, Q2 was a complete disaster for him as he was knocked out of the session. Zhou, Magnussen, Stroll, and Schumacher also didn't make it into the third qualifying session of the day. And nobody expected the outcome of Q3.

For the first time in his F1 career, George Russell took pole position setting a lap time of 1:17.377 minutes. It has been quite a while since Mercedes hasn't been this fast in qualifying. Both Ferrari drivers were right behind him, with Sainz in P2 and Leclerc in P3.

George Russells Secure Maiden Pole Position Finish at the F1 Hungarian Grand Prix
Photo: Mercedes-Benz Group AG
Lando Norris once again confirmed that McLaren is serious about a good result at the Hungaroring by claiming P4. Alpine Renault drivers Ocon and Alonso will be starting the race tomorrow from the third row, while Lewis Hamilton will be right next to Valtteri Bottas.

With Daniel Ricciardo in P9, Max Verstappen will have a difficult race as he is left with P10 after today's qualifying session. At this point, it's hard to predict how things will unfold for the main event, but that's just another reason for you to tune in and watch the race live starting at 3 PM GMT+2.
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About the author: Dragos Chitulescu
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The things Dragos enjoys the most in life are, in no particular order: cars, motorcycles, diecast cars, and drifting. He's seen (and driven) many vehicles since he started his writing career back in 2009, but his garage currently houses a 1991 Mazda RX-7 FC3S Turbo II and a 1999 Suzuki SV650-S.
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