Lewis Hamilton clinched pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix in the eleventh race of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. This was the Briton’s 101st pole position and his eighth pole position at this race.
Valtteri Bottas was in second position, 0.315 seconds slower than Hamilton. Max Verstappen was in third position with a big gap of 0.421 seconds to Hamilton.
The qualifying session at the Hungaroring circuit took place under scorchingly hot conditions with air temperatures at 29 degree C and track temperatures at 60 degree C.
The three compounds for this race are from the middle range of the Pirelli tyres – the white-striped hard tyres (C2), the yellow-striped medium tyres (C3) and the red-striped soft tyres (C4).
Q1: Russell and Tsunoda Eliminated
Kimi Räikkönen went to the top of the time charts in the early exchanges with a lap time of 1m17.963s. Max Verstappen went to the top of the time charts on his first run with a 1m16.214s lap time. The Dutchman was 0.210 seconds faster than Hamilton.
Bottas, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris were behind the two title contenders in the early exchanges. The Farrari drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, slotted into fourth and seventh positions on their first run.
Sergio Pérez languished in ninth position and he was over a second slower than his team-mate Verstappen.
With two minutes to go all the drivers were on the track. Mick Schumacher was sat in the garage as his car was not repaired in time for qualification after he suffered a crash in the third free practice session.
Yuki Tsunoda and the two drivers from the Williams F1 and Uralkali Haas F1 teams were eliminated.
Q1 dropzone: Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, Nicholas Latifi, Nikita Mazepin, Mick Schumaher
Q2: Sainz crashes out
The drivers from the top teams were on the medium compound tyres, the preferred tyre to start the race. Hamilton was ahead of Verstappen and Bottas on the first run.
Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel slotted into third and fourth positions on their soft compound tyre runs. Leclerc went second behind Hamilton on his first run.
But his team-mate Sainz crashed into the barriers at the final corner and the session was red-flagged. The session resumed with under six minutes to go, but the drivers hit the track with just three minutes of the session left.
Pérez got himself out of the elimination zone on the soft compound tyres. Verstappen also set his fastest time on the soft compound tyres. Vettel knocked out Ricciardo in the dying minutes of the session.
Q2 dropzone: Daniel Ricciardo, Lance Stroll, Kimi Räikkönen, Antonio Giovinazzi, Carlos Sainz
Q3: Hamilton takes pole position
The all-important twelve minutes of the final shootout on this hard to overtake track started with Verstappen and the Mercedes drivers hitting the track early.
Hamilton took provisional pole position ahead of Bottas and Verstappen with a lap time of 1m15.419s.The second flying lap did not see the drivers improve their positions.
Hamilton and Bottas locked out the front row with both the Red Bull Racing Honda drivers on the second row. Gasly qualified ahead of Norris in fifth position.
Top 10: Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen, Sergio Pérez, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel
Results of the 2021 Hungarian GP Qualification:
| Pos | No | Driver | Nat. | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 01:16.424 | 01:16.553 | 01:15.419 | 19 |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 01:16.569 | 01:16.702 | 01:15.734 | 18 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 01:16.214 | 01:15.650 | 01:15.840 | 17 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 01:17.233 | 01:16.443 | 01:16.421 | 16 |
| 5 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 01:16.874 | 01:16.394 | 01:16.483 | 15 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 01:17.081 | 01:16.385 | 01:16.489 | 17 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 01:17.084 | 01:16.574 | 01:16.496 | 17 |
| 8 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 01:17.367 | 01:16.766 | 01:16.653 | 15 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 01:17.123 | 01:16.541 | 01:16.715 | 15 |
| 10 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 01:17.105 | 01:16.794 | 01:16.750 | 15 |
| 11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 01:17.664 | 01:16.871 | 13 | |
| 12 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 01:17.038 | 01:16.893 | 12 | |
| 13 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 01:17.553 | 01:17.564 | 15 | |
| 14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 01:17.776 | 01:17.583 | 12 | |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 01:16.649 | DNF | 5 | |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 01:17.919 | 8 | ||
| 17 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 01:17.944 | 8 | ||
| 18 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 01:18.036 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | RAF | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 01:18.922 | 9 |