Hamilton storms to pole after a dominant qualifying performance

Lewis Hamilton shines in the blazing sun at Budapest

Lewis Hamilton has stormed to his third pole position of the 2012 season, after an enthralling qualifying session at the Hungaroring. Romain Grosjean will line-up alongside the 2008 World Champion for tomorrow’s race, with Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button locking out the second row of the grid.

Unlike the previous two qualifying sessions, today’s session was run in glorious sunshine as Romain Grosjean got proceedings underway at the start of Q1. The Frenchman set the initial benchmark with a 01:27.333, before team-mate Kimi Raikkonen rose to the top with a 01:23.273. The Finn continued to set the fastest time at the top, before the resurgent Lewis Hamilton stormed to the top with a 01:22.371. The Briton extended his lead at the top with a 01:21.794, as many drivers began to opt for the soft (yellow) Pirelli compound.

This led to a highly frantic closing few minutes to the opening session, with the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber coming exceedingly close to being eliminated along with the usual suspects. However, it was Daniel Ricciardo who joined the Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs in being eliminated as the 20 minute session came to a conclusion.

Michael Schumacher was the first driver to take to the track as Q2 got underway, closely followed out of the pits by team-mate Nico Rosberg. The 7-time World Champion set the first timed lap of the session with a 01:30.813, which was instantly bettered by Rosberg and then Felipe Massa. Fellow countryman Nico Hulkenberg then stormed to the top, with a 01:21.906. With the majority of the drivers on the softer Pirelli compound, the times gradually got quicker as the session progressed.

Jenson Button and the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen all momentarily shared the top spot, before the dominant Lewis Hamilton returned to the top with a 01:21.060. Whilst Hamilton was dominating proceedings at the front, Championship contender Mark Webber was enduring a torrid qualifying session, as the Australian driver was eliminated as the 15 minute session came to an end. Webber joined Paul di Resta, Nico Rosberg, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Jean-Eric Vergne and Michael Schumacher in being eliminated from qualifying.

With Lewis Hamilton displaying utter dominance at the top, the 2008 World Champion was rightfully regarded as the man to beat once as the all-important top ten shootout got underway. Nico Hulkenberg got proceedings underway once the 10 minute session began, however it was Lewis Hamilton who set the initial time to beat with an untidy 01:26.781.

Kimi Raikkonen easily beat the Briton’s time, however Hamilton immediately reasserted his authority with a blisteringly quick 01:21.260. If that time wasn’t quick enough, the McLaren driver then set an even quicker 01:20.953. This cemented Lewis Hamilton’s third pole of the season, as Romain Grosjean slotted into 2nd place on the grid.

With such an intriguing grid lined up for tomorrow’s race, it looks as though the Hungarian Grand Prix will once again provide us with a fascinating 70-lap race. Lewis Hamilton will be out to redeem himself at the front, with Romain Grosjean striving for his maiden Grand Prix victory with Lotus.

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