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Sunday, July 26, 2015

Hamilton Harnesses Top Time in Hot Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The 2015 Formula 1 season is in the process of crossing its halfway point this weekend as the stage is set for the 30th annual Hungarian Grand Prix. The race is also the final race before a month-long summer hiatus for Formula 1 teams. For this reason, drivers and teams want to set a good impression before heading into the latter half of the season.

Just outside of the capital of Budapest, the Hungarian Grand Prix is the 10th event on the 2015 schedule. Second only to the Monaco Grand Prix street circuit, the 4.381-kilometer Hungaroring gains notoriety for being among the slowest and tightest courses the Formula 1 tour has to deal with in the 2015 season. For this reason, handling overrides all-out engine power when racing on the 12-turn track. There is a theory that the Hungarian Grand Prix will allow some of the performance-challenged teams will be on equalized grounds. Last year, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled-off a victory in a series largely dominated by Mercedes AMG. However, with the consistent front-running performance of the Mercedes AMG team in 2015, there is no place where the team’s advantage isn’t shining through.

With the series engaged in the dog days of summer, track temperatures at the Hungaroring soared to the highest levels recorded this Formula 1 season for qualifying. According to tire supplier Pirelli, track temperature held at 52 degrees Celsius. The warmth combined with the dry weather conditions led to a fast track surface. At a Q3 lap time roughly 7/10ths of a second quicker than the 2014 pole time set by teammate Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton recorded a 1-minute, 22.020-second one-lap effort to take the top spot for the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungarian Grand Prix is a race the Brit has won four times. Hamilton’s successful pole run places Mercedes AMG in possession of all 10 pole positions available during the 2015 Formula 1 campaign. Nico Rosberg captures snatched the other front row spot at the Hungaroring.

Leading the second row is the Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel. Interestingly, Vettel’s top time in Q3 was still slower than the pole position of Rosberg in 2014 symbolizing how far the Mercedes AMG team is ahead of the competition. Ferrari’s gains have been notable in 2015 in the hands of Sebastian Vettel and occasionally in the car of Kimi Raikkonen who starts fifth Sunday.

Based on their recent performances, a fourth and seventh place starting spot for the Red Bull Racing entrants could be viewed as a success. Defending winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo will start in fourth (the same position where the Australian won the 2014 race). Russian teammate Daniil Kvyat is placed on the fourth row of the race in the second Red Bull-Renault.

Both Williams Martini Racing cars will start in the top-10 but Head of Performance Engineering for the team Rob Smedley himself responded to the Hungaroring as, "It’s not a circuit that suits us as much as other tracks do". Valtteri Bottas took sixth place in qualifying for the grand prix while Felipe Massa will start in eighth. Rounding out the top-10 in the line-up for the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix is Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean.

With weather reports calling for a warm, dry event, the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix will start at 8:00 AM Eastern time on Sunday.

2015 Formula 1

Hungarian Grand Prix

Starting Line-up


Pos #
Car #
Driver
Team
Engine





1
44
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes AMG
Mercedes-Benz
2
6
Nico Rosberg
Mercedes AMG
Mercedes-Benz
3
5
Sebastian Vettel
Ferrari
Ferrari
4
3
Daniel Ricciardo
Red Bull
Renault
5
7
Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari
Ferrari
6
77
Valtteri Bottas
Williams F1
Renault
7
26
Daniil Kvyat
Red Bull
Renault
8
19
Felipe Massa
Williams
Mercedes-Benz
9
33
Max Verstappen
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Renault
10
8
Romain Grosjean
Lotus
Mercedes-Benz
11
27
Nico Hulkenberg
Force India
Mercedes-Benz
12
55
Carlos Sainz Jr
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Renault
13
11
Sergio Perez
Force India
Mercedes-Benz
14
13
Pastor Maldonado
Lotus
Mercedes-Benz
15
14
Fernando Alonso
McLaren
Honda
16
22
Jenson Button
McLaren
Honda
17
9
Marcus Ericsson
Sauber
Ferrari
18
12
Felipe Nasr
Sauber
Ferrari
19
98
Roberto Merhi
Manor Marussia
Ferrari
20
28
Will Stevens
Manor Marussia
Ferrari

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