Qualifying Report - The first orange pole

By Dan Knutson in Budapest

Max Verstappen, cheered on by thousands of Dutch fans wearing orange, won his first ever Formula 1 pole position in 94 attempts. "The car felt good all weekend, and we finally did it," said the 21-year-old driver.

The line-up for the weekend was: Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas; Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc; Red Bull TAG Heuer – Verstappen and Pierre Gasly; Renault – Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg; Haas Ferrari – Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen; McLaren Renault – Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris; Racing Point Mercedes – Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll; Alfa Romeo Ferrari – Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi; Toro Rosso Honda – Daniil Kvyat and Alexander Albon; Williams Mercedes – George Russell and Robert Kubica.

Hamilton had clocked an unofficial lap record at 1:16.084 in the final moments of FP3 earlier in the day.

QUALIFYING 1

The ambient temperature at the start of the 18-minute Q1 session was 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Centigrade).

Vettel was the first of the top guns to clock a time – a 1:16.581. Moments later Leclerc beat that with a 1:16.337.

But now Bottas and Hamilton were out there. Bottas moved into second and Hamilton third. But not for long as Verstappen topped them all at 1:15.817.

Bad news for Leclerc next as he spun coming out of the final turn and banged the tire barriers with the rear of the Ferrari. He headed to the pits for repairs.

On the bubble in 15th place with four minutes remaining in Q1 was Albon. Russell filled the 14th spot and Kvyat the 16th spot.

Out front it was Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc, Hamilton, Vettel, Norris, Gasly and Raikkonen.

While some of the front runners stayed in the pits for the final two minutes, there was plenty of action further back. The track really ramped up in the final moments, and the lap times tumbled. Consider Norris who went from 14th to ninth to 16th.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q1 were: and Russell, Perez, Ricciardo, Stroll and Kubica.

The fastest 15 drivers who moved on to Q2 were: Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Magnussen, Leclerc, Vettel, Sainz, Raikkonen, Norris, Gasly, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, Giovinazzi, Albon and Grosjean.

QUALIFYING 2

As usual, the question was which if any of the drivers in the top teams would risk setting their Q2 time on Pirelli's medium compound slicks rather than the soft compound tires. That would enable them to start the race on the mediums and thus have a much wider pit range window.

The answer was: Bottas, Hamilton, Gasly, Vettel, Leclerc (in the repaired Ferrari), and Verstappen.

Hamilton turned a 1:15.548. Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc, Vettel, Norris and Gasly could not beat that and lined up in that order behind him. Next were Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Sainz.

Sainz was 10th and on the cutline with five minutes to go in Q2. Hulkenberg as ahead of him in ninth and Albon trailed him in 11th.

All 15 drivers were in the pits with three minutes remaining, and then they began to file back out. The top guys were now on the soft tires just in case they needed to put in a last-minute fast time to stay in the top 10.

The five drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Hulkenberg, Albon, Kvyat, Giovinazzi and Magnussen.

The fastest 10 drivers who moved on to Q3 were: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc, Vettel, Norris, Sainz, Grosjean, Gasly and Raikkonen.

QUALIFYING 3

Hamilton and Bottas were the first out in Q3 that would last12 minutes.

Hamilton turned a 1:15.146. Bottas beat that with a 1:15.136. Verstappen beat them both at 1:14.958.

Vettel took fourth ahead of Leclerc, Gasly, Norris, Sainz, Raikkonen and Grosjean.

Back to the pits they went, and out they back came with less than three minutes to play for.

Verstappen improved to a 1:14.572 to secure his first F1 pole. Bottas was second ahead of Hamilton. Next were Leclerc, Vettel, Gasly, Norris, Sainz, Grosjean and Raikkonen.