BUDAPEST: Defending drivers’ world champion and current runaway leader Sebastian Vettel topped the times for Red Bull in Saturday morning’s third and final free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Vettel (1:19.815s) outpaced McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton (1:19.978s) to secure his eighth pole of the season.
Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button (1:20.024s) will start from the third position followed by Ferrari duo of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, Renault’s Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.
After seeing Briton Lewis Hamilton dominate both free sessions on Friday, the 24-year-old German reacted with a committed and more fluent performance that lifted him clear of nearest rival two-times champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
Alonso, who was 30 on Friday, was three-tenths of a second off the pace set by the flying German who clocked a best lap of one minute and 21.168 in the closing seconds.
Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate and fellow-Briton Jenson Button was third fastest.
Force India’s Adrian Sutil equalled his best qualifying performance of the season by yet again claiming the eighth spot on the grid while his team-mate Paul Di Resta will start at the 11th position in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Sutil, who started eighth on the grid in Nurburgring last week, came up with yet another strong performance in his VJM04 and clocked an impressive 1:21.445s to move ahead Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher (1:21.907s) and Sauber-Ferrari’s Sergio Perez (1:22.157s), who completed the top 10 line up.
By virtue of a strong qualifying session, Sutil once again stand in with a chance to score valuable points for his team after his impressive sixth place finish in last week’s German GP.
His team-mate Di Resta (1:22.256s), however, missed the final qualifying session by a whisker after Sauber’s Sergio Perez edged past his time in Q2.
Force India is presently at the seventh place in the Constructor’s Championship table with 20 points.
Sutil said he was happy with his performance and the car was competitive.
“I’m very pleased with my qualifying and it feels great to be starting from eighth for the second race in a row,” said Sutil. Meanwhile, Di Resta said he was looking to score points on Sunday. (Agencies)