Vettel grabs Hungary pole

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel edged out Lewis Hamilton to take pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton denied at the death as Red Bull keep up pole run

Sebastian Vettel maintained Red Bull's stranglehold on pole position by edging out Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A Red Bull has been on pole for every race of the 2011 season, but it looked as though Hamilton was on course to break the run as he set the pace early in the top 10 shootout at the Hungaroring. But Vettel produced a superb lap of one minute 19.815 seconds in the closing stages of the session to knock the British driver, who won last time out in Germany, down to second place. Hamilton ended up just over one-and-a-half tenths back with McLaren team-mate Jenson Button, who is set to celebrate his 200th grand prix start, behind him in third position. Felipe Massa out-qualified Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso for the first time this season to grab fourth, while Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber could only manage sixth. Nico Rosberg will start seventh ahead of Adrian Sutil in the Force India, with the second Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Sauber's Sergio Perez completing the top 10. Alonso set the opening benchmark in the Q3 shootout before Hamilton became the first driver all weekend to dip into the 1:19s, with Vettel slotting into second.

Limit

On the second round of flying laps, Alonso could not find anything extra but Vettel was pushing his Red Bull to the limit behind him and snatched top spot away from Hamilton. The McLaren driver was not able to produce a response and had to settle for second position, with Button taking third and Massa also climbing above Alonso into fourth place. Webber ended a disappointing sixth while the two Mercedes and Sutil opted for a single run and Perez did not post a time at all in Q3. Earlier, Hamilton had set the early pace in Q1 before being dislodged at the top of the timesheets by Alonso while, at the bottom of the standings, both Hispania drivers -usually perennial backmarkers - outqualified the Virgin of Jerome D'Ambrosio. Most of the frontrunners opted to bolt on the quicker super-soft tyres for the second qualifying session and Vettel immediately picked up the pace with a lap in the low 1:21s. Webber then went below the 81 second mark before being usurped first by Button and then Alonso, with Hamilton staying on the harder tyre compound but still managing to make it safely through the session. Seven-time world champion Schumacher booked his spot in the top 10 with a last-gasp effort to end British driver Paul di Resta's hopes of making the final qualifying session. Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m19.815
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m19.978 + 0.163
03. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m20.024 + 0.209
04. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m20.350 + 0.535
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m20.365 + 0.550
06. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m20.474 + 0.659
07. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m21.098 + 1.283
08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m21.445 + 1.630
09. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m21.907 + 2.092
10. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari No time
11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m22.256 + 1.994
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m22.284 + 2.022
13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m22.435 + 2.173
14. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m22.470 + 2.208
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m22.684 + 2.422
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.979 + 2.717
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth No time
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m24.070 + 2.492
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m24.362 + 2.784
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m24.534 + 2.956
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.294 + 4.716
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m26.323 + 4.745
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m26.479 + 4.901
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m26.510 + 4.932