Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has expressed concern the “history” between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen could again come to the fore at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
For the first time since the controversial championship decider in Abu Dhabi in 2021, the duo will start on the front row together after Hamilton scored his first pole position in 34 races.
It proved to be a record-breaking one as Hamilton has become the first driver in F1 history to score nine pole positions at a single circuit, pulling himself clear of the tie he was in with fellow seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
With Verstappen on provisional pole after his initial run in Q3 but failing to improve on his second outing, he left the door open just enough for Hamilton to claim the 104th pole position of his F1 career by just three-thousandths of a second.
It has also paved the way for a captivating battle between the duo at a Hungaroring circuit where it is difficult to overtake, recalling memories of their unsavoury scraps throughout 2021 whenever they were in close proximity to one another, such as at Imola, Silverstone, and Monza, to name a few.
“Here is a little like Monaco without the barriers so that once you have track position, it’s very hard to overtake,” said Horner, speaking to Sky Sports F1.
“So it comes down to strategy, and hopefully, I think we’ve got better race pace.
“But it’s also going to come down to the start. We know there’s a bit of history between those two, so as long as they make it through the first couple of turns then they will have a good motor race.”
Remarkably, it is just over 19 months since Hamilton last claimed pole, doing so in the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP in early December that year.
“I forgot what it feels like to be in this spot,” remarked Hamilton, sitting in the middle position for the top-three post-qualifying press conference. “It’s an extraordinary feeling. I haven’t been here for such a long time.
“I’ve had success before, and even though it’s 104, it feels like the first. It’s hard to explain just how special it feels.
“We definitely weren’t expecting to be fighting for pole. These guys (referring to Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris on either side of him) were looking so strong.
“Of course, I was hoping to be as high as possible. Once we got to Q2, I was looking quite decent all of a sudden. In Q3, I was only a tenth off Max, and I knew I had more time to find in the car.
“It was not quite up to it on the previous laps, but the last one, I knew I just had to send it and hope to stay on track, with the last sector particularly strong.
“It was epic, and I’m just so happy for everyone on the team. It’s been a really, really difficult year and a half on a personal level.
“But as a team, collectively, we’ve tried so many ideas in trying to find the right path, to continue to keep the motivation, and that has been the challenge for us. So this is a team effort, and the team deserves this.”
It was a bittersweet afternoon for Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, however, whose elation at the death of Hamilton’s pole was offset by a thump of a desk at the end of Q1 when George Russell was dumped out.
Russell was a victim of the end-of-session shenanigans as a number of drivers slowed in the final sector in the hope of creating a gap to the driver in front and getting in a clean final lap.
The Briton was overtaken by three other drivers on the approach to Turn 13 as whatever gentleman’s agreement had existed, in that drivers hold position, went out of the window.
From starting on pole at this track a year ago, Russell will line up 18th, with Wolff recognising the team let him down on this occasion.
“Q1 was overall messy, not only for us but for many others, just so many cars on a single piece of track, and we just put him in the wrong position,” said Wolff, when asked by Speedcafe as to what unfolded.
“The first run was already compromised, and then obviously everybody bunching up in the last corner was far from ideal.
“We know there is no code anymore between the drivers because he was overtaken by three cars between Turns 13 and 14, and that obviously completely screws your last lap. We need to take it on us, that we haven’t put him in a better position.
“On the positive side, clearly, we had a package that was competitive, Lewis just drove an amazing lap and put it on pole, and that’s something we can be really proud of.”
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