Formula 1 News

Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifiers: Pole Position for Alonso 

Fernando Alonso took a controversial pole position for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring Circuit, beating McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton with his final lap of the session. Lewis Hamilton had dominated qualifying, but was unable to attempt a second Q3 flying lap as he was stuck behind Alonso in McLaren’s pit box when both pitted for new tyres.

Even if Alonso was cleared by his team to leave the pits, he remained stationery for several seconds knowing that Hamilton was waiting behind him. As a result, Hamilton crossed the finish line just too late and was unable to complete another flying lap before the chequered flag. McLaren chief Ron Dennis was visibly furious about the happenings and threw his headphones onto the screens at his pitwall. There is for sure going to be a serious discussion to decide whose error it really was, although at first sight it looks to be a deliberate move from Alonso to get the pole position.

Kimi Raikkonen will start fourth behind BMW’s Nick Heidfeld in the best of the Ferraris, but his teammate Felipe Massa ended up back in 14th after a strategic error (run out of fuel in the pits) and then a poor flying lap in the second segment.

Prior to the controversial pit incident, Hamilton had been fastest by seven tenths of a second in Q1, then led the way in Q2. He beat Alonso by 0.4 seconds on their first Q3 flying laps, but had no chance to respond when Alonso’s second run beat his provisional pole time by 0.1 seconds.

Raikkonen was eight tenths of a second slower than the McLarens in fourth and behind Heidfeld’s BMW. But Kimi is significantly better placed than his Ferrari teammate. Massa was just setting out for his second run of Q2 when he was notified that his Ferrari did not have enough fuel on board. He stopped the car in the pitlane, then was rolled back to the garage and restarted in time for a final flying lap, but Massa struggled for speed when he rejoined and could only manage 14th place.

Nico Rosberg broke into the top five for Williams, ahead of Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher and Robert Kubica in the second BMW. Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber filled the final top ten places. David Coulthard was on course to reach Q3 until Kubica squeezed his BMW into the top ten in the final seconds of Q2 and pushed the Red Bull down to 11th.

Coulthard will share row six with Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen, who was second fastest in Q1 but only 12th in the next session. He will start one place ahead of Rosberg’s teammate Alex Wurz.

Honda have lacked pace all weekend and failed to make it beyond Q1. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will start on row nine.

Super Aguri and Toro Rosso each got a car into the second segment, with Anthony Davidson and Vitantonio Liuzzi taking 15th and 16th on the grid.

Davidson’s teammate Takuma Sato was a second slower in 19th after running wide on his final Q1 lap, while Liuzzi’s new partner Sebastian Vettel ended up 20th in his first qualifying session for STR.

The Spykers will again fill the back row. Adrian Sutil beat returnee Sakon Yamamoto by a second, although the former Super Aguri driver was on a potentially better lap when he encountered Fisichella.

Hungarian GP Final Qualifier Standings:

1. F. Alonso (McLaren Mercedes) 1’19”674
2. L. Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) 1’19”781
3. N. Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 1’20”259
4. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1’20”410
5. N. Rosberg (Williams) 1’20”632
6. R. Schumacher (Toyota) 1’20”714
   
7. R. Kubica (BMW Sauber) 1’20”876
8. G. Fisichella (Renault) 1’21”079
9. J. Trulli (Toyota) 1’21”206
10. M. Webber (Red Bull) 1’21”256