Russell’s success, Ferrari’s dominance and Red Bull’s downfall. The young Mercedes driver took the first pole of the race from him off the cliff, on the last lap, while Sainz He was already licking himself with the first position. He didn’t get it in the end, but his second place and Leclerc’s third give a lot of encouragement to the Italians, who will have a golden opportunity tomorrow to cut Verstappen in the World Cup overall. The Dutchman was tenth and it is assumed that Ferrari will direct his entire strategy towards the Monegasque. A priori, Sainz will have to work for his partner, fully in the fight for the title since he won in Austria the last weekend of competition. Alonso, after a great performance, will start sixth.
After a Friday marked by constant rain and the withdrawal of four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, who took advantage of the Hungarian Grand Prix to announce that this would be the last year of his life at full speed, the sun came out at the Hungaroring. Soft tires and to compete, almost all against Ferrari, dominant and would be the Italian team in the free and eager to propel Leclerc and Sainz in the World Cup standings. They came out last, as if they were royalty, unaware of the times, but it was Max Verstappen, the champion, the first to hit the table. The Dutchman made the best time of the weekend in Q2, almost at the same time that Alonso was placed in third position, the Spaniard very fine after announcing that the Alpine was in top form when he arrived in Central Europe. His teammate Ocon was in even more trouble, flirting non-stop with the exclusion zone, as was Checo Pérez (Red Bull), who was somewhat subdued halfway through the standings. In the afternoon he would take leftover ingredients to provide the occasional surprise.
Sainz increased performance, unleashed in Q3 and closely pursued by Russell, Leclerc y Hamilton. It was a Ferrari against Mercedes while Red Bull was slowly diluted, waiting for some genius from Verstappen to save the day (shortly after he told his team that the car was not fully responding). The Spaniard held on, runaway in the final ups and downs of qualifying, but Russell stole pole from him in the final seconds, on the last lap, with a spectacular performance. The best classification in the entire career of the 24-year-old Briton. The Mercedes radio was out of control while Sainz secured a very good second position, well supported by Leclerc’s third, an algorithm that presents a promising outlook for Ferrari for Sunday’s race, with the Red Bulls well away: Verstappen was tenth and Perez, eleventh. Alonso will start from sixth.
