Hungarian GP: Qualifications: Sebastian Vettel narrowly beats the two McLarens and Alonso

Q1: The two HRT drivers are the first to hit the track before being joined by numerous drivers, as Daniel Ricciardo sets the first reference time. Both Red Bulls and both McLarens are out on soft tires, indicating the trend for the top three teams. Sebastian Vettel logically sets the best time, before being overtaken by Lewis Hamilton, who posts a very fast lap on soft tires. The two HRT cars are struggling to get within the 107% time, even with the help of super-soft tires.

At mid-session, a few headliners continue to attack while all drivers are within the 107%, with Lewis Hamilton leading ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button. With 6 minutes remaining in the session, Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time, 58 milliseconds quicker than the McLaren.

In the final minutes, the vast majority of drivers use super-soft tires, and Pastor Maldonado eliminates Sebastien Buemi from Q1, pushing him back to 18th place.

Eliminated from Q1: Sebastien Buemi, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Daniel Ricciardo, Jérome d’Ambrosio.

Q2: Sebastian Vettel and Paul di Resta are the first drivers to go out, the Scotsman on soft tires, while the reigning world champion is on super-softs, likely to check the use of his DRS which seemed troubled in Q1.

The German engineer, on the other hand, asked him to only use his KERS to start his lap, likely due to a problem at Red Bull with this system. Lewis Hamilton clocked a time one-hundredth off Vettel on soft tires, while Mark Webber, then Jenson Button, took the lead. Fernando Alonso also attacked extremely hard to complete a lap in 1:20:262, pushing Sebastian Vettel eight-tenths behind, causing a storm at Red Bull who seem very poorly positioned to aim for the front row. Many drivers improved in the last few minutes, and ultimately it was di Resta and the two Lotus Renault drivers who failed to qualify for Q3.

Eliminated from Q2: Paul di Resta, Vitaly Petrov, Kamui Kobayashi, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello, Jaime Alguersuari, Pastor Maldonado.

Q3: Fernando Alonso is the first to go out in this third part of qualifying and sets the fastest time before being surpassed by Lewis Hamilton, who goes under 1’20!: 1’19’978. Sebastian Vettel silences the critics and posts a time of 1’20’045, much faster than in Q2. Provisional standings halfway through the session: Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Button, Massa, Webber.

Alonso comes out ahead of Nico Rosberg while Mark Webber faces other issues with his KERS. The best times in each sector are falling, and only Sebastian Vettel improves the best time, setting an astounding 1:19:815, while Jenson Button, then Felipe Massa, prove to be faster than Alonso! The Brazilian driver finally beats his teammate, while Sebastian Vettel regains pole position!

Results of the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying: