Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton clips Max Verstappen for Hungarian Grand Prix pole

Lewis Hamilton qualified ahead of Max Verstappen for the Hungarian Grand Prix. (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)

Is Sunday the day that Red Bull’s domination of the 2023 Formula 1 season ends?

Lewis Hamilton clipped Max Verstappen for the pole during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton’s lap was 0.003 seconds faster than Verstappen’s as he captured the ninth pole of his career at the Hungaroring.

Hamilton has won eight times in Hungary and five of those wins have come from the top spot. He last won in Hungary in 2020 when he started and finished first and led all but one lap. He started first in 2021 and finished second to Esteban Ocon after a big crash on the first lap.

Sunday’s race marks the first time that a Red Bull driver hasn’t started on pole for the first 11 races of the season. Verstappen has won eight of the first 10 races, while teammate Sergio Perez has the other two wins.

Practices and qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix were different than normal thanks to F1’s experimental tire limits. The race weekend is the first of two this season that saw teams get fewer tires for the race weekend and mandated that all teams use hard compound tires in the first qualifying session, medium tires in the second session and soft tires in the third session.

Hamilton’s pace doesn’t appear to be a fluke, however. While Mercedes teammate George Russell qualified 18th because of traffic in the first session, Hamilton posted the fastest lap of the final practice session Saturday.

If Hamilton can win from the pole Sunday it’ll be his 104th win in Formula 1 and his first win since winning the penultimate race of the 2021 season. He was on the way to winning the final race of 2021 and getting a record 8th F1 title before a caution for Nicholas Latifi’s crash led F1 officials to restart the race with a lap to go. Verstappen passed Hamilton for the win and the championship on fresh tires.

Verstappen has been the dominant driver since that first title as he cruised to the 2022 title and is well on his way to his third championship in 2023. He enters the Hungarian Grand Prix with a 99-point lead over Perez. Hamilton is 134 points back in fourth.