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Hungarian GP - Saturday summary: Max on pole and Ricciardo has gone crazy
Saturday at the Hungarian Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen claim a maiden pole position, Charles Leclerc was in the wall again and Sergio Perez accused Daniel Ricciardo of a crazy move.
Qualifying
It was looking pretty good for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton as the Brit topped the charts in FP3 but there was always the looming presence of Max Verstappen. With the Dutchman in such imperious form, many believe he is the man to beat despite being third in the Drivers' Championship. It seemed to be a shootout between Hamilton and Verstappen.
After topping one qualifying session each it was Verstappen who pipped the Brit's teammate, in fact, to pole with Valtteri Bottas joining Max on the front row. Hamilton had to settle for third.
The Ferrari pair were fourth and fifth but it doesn't tell the full story of Charles Leclerc's qualifying session. After setting a time fast enough in Q1 Leclerc spun at the final corner crashing his rear wing into the barriers leaving his team with a race against time to repair the car. Luckily for the Monegasque, they did and he'll start fourth.
Daniel Ricciardo is going crazy
It wasn't a good qualifying session for Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian exited in Q1 and will start the race 18th on the grid, only ahead of Lance Stroll and Robert Kubica. To compound his misery he had a bizarre incident with Sergio Perez which the Mexican described as "crazy".
Ricciardo tried overtaking Perez at the final corner with Perez responding by standing his ground and retaking the place. It ended up working against both drivers as neither were able to put in a lap worthy of getting to Q2 and exited at the opening segment of qualifying.
It didn't help that Ricciardo's teammate qualified 11th. A missed opportunity for Ricciardo?
Delight for Red Bull as Max takes maiden pole
Better late than never. Max Verstappen has finally claimed his first pole position. After Honda apologised in Germany after they felt it could've been P1 from the start he finally takes the pole position award in Hungary.
After taking the first qualifying session it looked like a shootout between him and Hamilton, but an early lap in Q3 set the standard and he built on it with his last lap, setting a time of 1:14.572. It would not be beaten. Jubilant scenes in the cockpit and the garage ensued and it was just as lively in the stands as the masses of Dutch fans celebrated.
Check out the reaction to Verstappen's maiden pole here
Check out the team's celebration here
Williams have (finally) turned up the pace
George Russell may have failed to make it out of Q1 again but he gave it a good go eventually qualifying 16th. The Brit was as high as ninth at one point way ahead of his teammate and he benefitted from the penalty to Antonio Giovinazzi bumping him up to 15th on the starting grid for tomorrow's race.
After his impressive display, Russell was in fine mood and believes the upgrades the Williams team brought in Germany are finally showing some results and the rookie went on to say "since coming here we've really turned up the pace". The Brit is still waiting for his first F1 point but this will have done wonders for him!