Lewis Hamilton expecting a tough race despite Hungarian pole – Formula 1 news
Despite storming to pole in the Hungarian GP, Lewis Hamilton has claimed that it would not be an easy task for him to win the race on Sunday, July 28, 2013.
Mercedes did not look quick enough to start from the front row of the grid at the Hungaroring, as their drivers struggled to find pace over a single lap run during the three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.
However, things were different during the qualifiers, as both Nico Rosberg and Hamilton were consistently matching the pace of rivals Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus.
Despite that, the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel looked set to claim pole in his Red Bull, as he was strong in all three sectors. He had saved an extra set of soft tyres for the final session, which also gave him an advantage over his rivals.
When the German came out to set his first flying lap in Q3, he was quite aggressive and managed the fastest time of the weekend. It seemed that no one would be able to match that, but Hamilton was not giving up that easy, as he gave everything in his final flying lap.
Although Vettel came out to improve his lap time and move higher in the order, he did not find the pace to match the Mercedes driver and had to settle for second on the grid.
Talking about the fastest lap, the Briton said, “I was really surprised when I came across the line and they told me I had got pole, I expected Seb to get it because he showed some serious pace before. It didn't even feel like that great a lap so I was surprised.”
However, he added about the race, “It's a long way down to turn one but if you can get into turn one first and hold your position it's definitely advantageous. Looking after the tyres in these conditions is always trouble. These guys [Vettel and Romain Grosjean] are going to be ridiculously fast so trying to keep ahead or hold onto them is going to be the challenge tomorrow.”
The weather is expected to remain hot in Hungary, so it will be interesting to see how the tyres behave on race day.
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