Hamilton Breaks New F1 Record in Hungary

I've seen countless articles and declarations about the Silverstone GP crash between the two top F1 drivers. There has been a huge wave of response coming from fans all across the world as well. As always, there are two sides. Some are blaming Hamilton for pushing the limits a little too far, while others are still not fond of Verstappen. Either way, the battle for the championship is still far from being settled.

It's been a few years since I've last attended a race at the Hungaroring. I can highly recommend you visit the track if you ever get the chance, even if it's not for an F1 event. The track opened in 1986, and it has become a regular on the Formula 1 calendar ever since. It's now at its third layout, and the longest one so far, measuring 2.722 miles (4.381 km) in total.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton claimed his 7th pole position after qualifying at the Hungarian GP. That meant he had caught up to Michael Schumacher, who had previously been the most successful driver in qualifying at this track. But records are meant to be broken, and we've seen Lewis becoming even stronger than Ferrari's former star. After getting P2 in the first qualifying session, and P6 in the second one, Lewis Hamilton set the pace in Q3.

His time of 1:15.419, recorded on soft tires, propelled him to pole position, his 8th so far at the Hungarian GP. That means that he's broken the Formula 1 record for most pole positions in Hungary, leaving Michael Schumacher in 2nd place. This success marks Hamilton's 75th pole position for the Mercedes F1 Team. This is at the same time the 214th pole for Mercedes-Benz as an engine supplier in Formula 1.

Valtteri Bottas had a very similar rhythm to that of Lewis. He was in P3 after Q1, P8 after Q2, but finally managed to get on top with P2 by the end of qualifying. Max Verstappen was less than half a second away from his arch-rival, and with a fast lap of 1:15.840, he claimed P3 after the qualifying session. Sergio Perez only managed to put in 16 laps, and he qualified in 4th place.

Going into today's race, scheduled to go live at 3 PM (GMT+1), Lewis Hamilton will be looking to secure his 9th victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, after winning it in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2016, and for the past three consecutive years. The drivers will have to go on for a total of 70 laps, which amounts to just over 190 miles (305 km) of intense action.

As of now, Lewis Hamilton is just 8 points behind Max Verstappen. While this is bound to be the hottest battle of the weekend, Valtteri Bottas has his fight going on as well. He is currently in 4th overall, just 5 points behind Lando Norris and 4 points ahead of Sergio Perez.