Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying: Hamilton takes POLE – Vettel starts 4th

Lewis Hamilton takes pole position for the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix in a rain soaked qualifying. Sebastian Vettel starts fourth.

It had looked, until the heavens opened and rain soaked the track, that Ferrari would have more than the measure of Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix, and Mercedes looked to be struggling in practice. But the rain changed everything.

Instead of Ferrari running a way to fill the front row, it was Lewis Hamilton who excelled in the rain, taking pole position by 0.260 seconds from team mate Bottas, and it was Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in third, ahead of Sebastian Vettel who could manage only fourth.

Behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars it is Renault’s Carlos Sainz showing his mettle in the wet with a fifth palce start, followed by Peirre Gasly in the Toro Rosso and then the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

The second Toro Rosso put Hartley in yo eight, and the Haas cars of Magnussen and Grosjean will start tomorrow’s race in ninth and 10th.

The obvious missing driver from the top ten is Daniel Ricciardo, who lost time after Lance Stroll crashed his Williams and ran in to rain when he tried again. He’ll start in 12th, just behind Fernando Alonso’s McLaren in 11th.

The Hungaroring isn’t the easiest place to overtake, so Mercedes has a clear advantage for tomorrow’s race. But if the track’s dry and the sun shines Ferrari could still be a real threat.