Qualifying

Hello and welcome to ESPNF1's coverage of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand prix at Hockenheim.

There was just 0.047s between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in FP3 this morning. Hamilton has generally looked to have a slight edge here but at the moment Rosberg is the man to beat on Saturdays, with four poles from the last five qualifying sessions. Crucial afternoon ahead for both in the context of the title battle.

Behind them Red Bull looks to be back in a position to challenge Williams, with the high-downforce nature of this track playing into their hands after four successive power-hungry venues.

But Williams seems happy with its upgrades brought this weekend, with a near ring wing part of the package brought to Hungaroring. The power unit plays less of a role at this circuit, however.

Fernando Alonso showed some promising pace but still ended this morning's session behind the Red Bulls and Valtteri Bottas. Felipe Massa had some trouble on his timed lap and ended up down in 11th.

Kimi Raikkonen is still yet to beat Fernando Alonso on a race day but finished FP3 just one tenth behind his team-mate on a circuit he has traditionally excelled at.

Further down the order, the Force Indias finished down in 17th and 18th. I don't think that is representative of where they will be today as the team traditionally this season has sacrificed a glory run in favour of working on its race set-up, but the lack of resources compared to the teams around it may finally be catching up with Force India.

Ahead of them in FP3 were Sauber, appear to have jumped away from Marussia since the removal of FRIC and closer to Lotus. They were behind Maldonado and Grosjean in FP3 but were ahead in Friday practice sessions. Sauber is one of the teams desperate for some points and strong results and we may well see a step in the right direction this weekend.

Previous pole sitters in Hungary from the current grid:

Hamilton 4 Alonso 2 Vettel 2 Raikkonen 1

Some dark clouds forming over the Hungaroring at the moment. Could make it very interesting indeed later this afternoon.

That's how I imagine Maldonado and Gutierrez driving most weekends, to be honest.

One thing that is worth saying is that Vettel has looked vastly improved this weekend. His struggles with the RB10 have been well-documented but it seems like he has found a groove so far here. Ricciardo is the man in-form in the Red Bull garage and one of the intriguing storylines today will be which Red Bull puts itself in the best position behind Mercedes.

The FIA confirms there is a 30% chance of rain in this session. It's quite a bit cooler around than it was in the morning.

Five minutes until the start of qualifying.

Temperatures for you - track temp currently 51 degrees Celsius, air temp 28.

The track temperature has actually dropped by four degrees in the last couple of minutes.

The grandstand on the start/finish straight looks to have more empty suits than people in it at present.

The light goes green and the session is underway.... but there's no action just yet in the pit lane.

But that silence is immediately broken as Kobayashi, Ericsson and Bianchi head out on track. There's now a fair bit of action in that pit lane.

Lots of wind at the circuit which will be causing problems for all the drivers. Hulkenberg called the tailwind "unbelievable" in FP3.

Early problems for Pastor Maldonado as he pulls up to the side of the road. That's his qualifying over barely two minutes into the session. It looks like he just lost drive.

Kobayashi sets the initial benchmark on the soft tyre, a 1:28.755.

Only Chilton, the Marussias and the Saubers out on the soft tyres. Everyone else on mediums.

Button and Magnussen cross in quick succession but Massa then takes P1 with a 1:26.771, which is immediately lowered by Bottas to 1:25.690.

Hamilton's car is on fire! He's stopped in the pit lane. Disaster for Hamilton as he parks it up in the pit lane.

What on earth has happened to Hamilton's luck in qualifying? Advantage Rosberg once again as Hamilton once again is forced out of Q1 by a mechanical gremlin.

Well, that's made things very interesting. Starting from the back of the grid here is an absolutely woeful prospect, overtaking being so difficult.

Rosberg crosses the line to claim P1 with a 1:25.353. Hamilton's car is still burning away on the entry to the pits as he makes his way back to the pit lane. He looks absolutely dejected as he walks back to the pit lane.

Vettel improves to P2 but Ricciardo jumps above him straight away, just 0.142s off Rosberg's time out in front.

Hamilton's car is still smoldering away, which must be a massive concern for Mercedes ahead of tomorrow's race. A pit-lane start looks likely tomorrow.

So what looked like a fascinating duel between the Mercedes drivers in Q3 has been denied. Is pole his to lose? Red Bull look close but surely Rosberg has something in reserve.

Rosberg one of three men out on track with six minutes left.

With Hamilton and Maldonado out of the way, Kobayashi is currently out of the drop zone in 16th. Caterham and Marussia have a chance of getting into Q2.

Grosjean also in the drop zone but he's on a timed lap on those soft tyres currently.

Worth noting Sauber are well clear of the rest of the usual suspects in Q1, albeit on soft tyres, but clearly the team has made something of a step forward towards Lotus.

If you didn't see it, Hamilton's walk back to the pits reminded my of his stroll from the gravel in Shanghai in 2007. Absolutely despondent, he knows what this issue means for tomorrow.

Grosjean has lept clear of the drop zone with a 1:26.136.

Hulkenberg now in shaky territory after running wide on his timed lap. He'll have another crack at a faster time but his tyres might well be in a bit of trouble.

Good lap from Kvyat puts him third on the soft tyre. Clear that a lot of guys in those lower reaches worried about dropping down.

Raikkonen is down in 15th and still in the pit lane! You imagine he should be safe as he's three tenths clear of Kobayashi but it's a risky call from his pit wall.

Chilton is now crawling round the circuit.

Chilton is told his issue are down to a "fuel pressure problem".

Hulkenberg finally gets a proper lap together on the softs and jumps up to 12th. Raikkonen now 16th.

WOW! Bianchi knocks Raikkonen out of qualifying! Staggering gamble from Ferrari not to go out on soft tyres and Bianchi has made them pay for it.

It had to be Bianchi, too. The man tipped to replace Raikkonen after his season. What on earth must the Finn be thinking?

Next on the list for Bianchi - nicking Kimi's seat at Ferrari? Let's just see....

Well then. Dramatic Q1 for you there, once again.

The drivers dropping out are Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Chilton, Ericsson, Hamilton and Maldonado, with the latter two having issues and not setting a time.

That is really astonishing. Probably moreso than Hamilton's issue earlier in the session. Of all the people it could have been, for it to be Bianchi.... staggering. Ferrari gambled by keeping Alonso and Raikkonen in the garage at the end. Alonso was well clear with his time but Raikkonen looked in a dangerous position throughout.

Max Chilton must also be wondering what just happened in that session. The gap between the Marussia drivers is growing with every weekend, it seems.

Well then. Hopefully you have your breath back from the drama of that session. The clock is ticking for Q2.

Remember this session is 15 minutes long. Only ten men will make it through to Q3.

Everyone out on the soft tyre.

Niki Lauda tells Sky Sports F1: "the fuel pressure went down and there was a fire" on Hamilton's car. Can't confirm whether Hamilton will be in a position to compete tomorrow.

Niki Lauda says Hamilton "would have been fastest today and would have won the race no question."

Don't think Rosberg will appreciate that.

Back to Q2 anyway. The Force Indias were top of the timesheets until Kvyat crossed, a 1:24.706 putting him top.

Massa then goes P1 but Bottas shaves a whole second off his team-mate's time, lowering the benchmark to a 1:24.001.

Rosberg now goes P1, six tenths clear of Bottas. The Red Bulls are currently out on track.

Alonso splits the Ferraris by going P3, 0.939s off Rosberg.

Vettel jumps into P2 behind Rosberg, 0.296s off the Mercedes.

Ricciardo can only manage P3, a tenth off his team-mate.

The track is currently empty.

It looks like Perez's session is over, he is out of his car in the garage.

Under four minutes left in this session and everyone is waiting for the optimum moment to go out for late run.

Williams just going for the one timed lap with Bottas. I assume that will be the same for Massa, who has just started his lap.

Bottas goes purple through the first sector. He looks on it this weekend.

His team-mate is unable to jump above, either. Massa still 0.03s off Bottas in P4.

Hulkenberg climbs into P9 and out of the drop zone but there are guys to come.

Sutil can't improve on 12th. Button goes seventh....

Double yellows waving in the final sector, with Daniil Kvyat stuck on the edge of Turn 12. Big shame for him after two personal best sectors, he looked likely to jump above Hulkenberg there too. Wonder who else it compromised as well?

Sutil in 12th is not half bad for a team which has struggled as much as Sauber this year.

Bianchi was way off in 16th but Marussia probably did not fancy blowing another set of tyres.

Imagine Hulkenberg will be sending Kvyat a thankyou note after that one, no doubt.

Update from Mercedes on Hamilton's earlier issue. Still no words from Ferrari about what can only be described as their strategic balls up. At least it's not something they've done once before this.... oh.

Well then, what can we expect from Q3? I can't see anyone challenging Rosberg out here, no-one has been within two tenths of the lead this weekend so far. My prediction Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo but with Bottas biting at their heels in fourth. Alonso to snatch fifth from Massa with another beasty drive in the Ferrari.

Rosberg the first man out here in qualifying. Big train of cars behind him.

Rain in the air so this could be the best time to get a dry lap in. As the light goes green there's an almighty rush down the pit lane.

Everyone absolutely hammering their outlaps here, every second lost could be crucial. Track looks like it's getting wetter out there.

Qualifying might just be determined on this one lap. Everyone stays out so we may see some slipping and sliding.

Rosberg runs wide at Turn 1! Magnussen is out into the barriers at Turn 1! The rain bucketing it down.

With Magnussen in the barriers the red flag is out. Magnussen clambers out from what looked like quite a nasty little shunt. Rosberg himself was very lucky to avoid the tyre barriers but he seemed to ease off on his way into Turn 1 when he realised how little grip there was.

Magnussen got onto the grass and that's what put him in the barrier. Button also ran wide behind him as well.

Everyone else has made it back to the pits. The rain makes the end of this session very interesting now.

Is that another slice of luck for Rosberg? After running wide he basically compromised his chance at a fast lap. Alonso and Vettel also very lucky, having ended up behind the entire train on the exit from the pits, meaning they would have been attempting the pole lap on the track at its wettest.

Watching the replay again, I don't think there's much blame you can attach to Magnussen there.

Hulkenberg tells his engineer there was good grip available everywhere else but Turn 1.

Nice radio message from Button, asking "Is Kevin ok?" before telling his team the lack of grip into Turn 1 was "scary".

Restart will take place in two minutes.

Roger from Manchester says:"How much is the guy paid to fix Lewis car ? More than a coincidence this. what say you!?"

Definitely a coincidence, no team or mechanic would put their driver at harms way. The simple answer is Hamilton is having all the bad luck at Mercedes at the moment, and will need one hell of a drive tomorrow to limit the damage.

Rosberg and Vettel the first men out.

The track is still pretty much a dry one, aside from at that first turn. Imagine it will get quicker as the session goes on.

Mercedes tells Rosberg he's fuelled for three timed laps but that he can't hold back on the cooling down lap with the limited time available.

Rosberg looks cautious through Turn 1 and this time keeps it together, as does Vettel behind him.

To clarify, everyone on soft tyres with the track still predominantly dry.

Bottas 1.4s quicker through the first sector on Rosberg! Stunning stuff, abandoning the cautious approach.

The rest of the pack smell pole position here. Rosberg initially goes pole but Ricciardo comfortably beats him.

But then Bottas goes P1 by a whole second, setting a 1:24.259. Great lap. Rosberg will have another bite at the cherry.

Vettel had a really poor first sector and can only manage fifth.

Alonso puts himself P2, six tenths off Bottas! This is shaping up into a great qualifying session.

Alonso puts himself P2, six tenths off Bottas! This is shaping up into a great qualifying session.

Button now climbs into P3, with a 1:25.263, still one second down on Bottas.

Ricciardo now goes P2, four tenths off Bottas.

Vettel goes fastest through the middle sector...

And goes P1! Great drive from the world champion, eight tenths above Bottas. What a marker to put down. The sun is out and the track is drying, it's getting quicker and quicker.

Rosberg now fastest through the first sector.

Hulkenberg goes P4, 1.4s off Vettel.

Rosberg just goes fastest, with a 1:23.236 - just over a tenth quicker than Vettel. Rain looks like it might be coming down again as Bottas dives out of the pit lane.

Three minutes left. Anything can happen here!

Vettel told there's a little bit of rain at Turn 1.

Very impressive from Vergne as he goes P5, 1.4s off Rosberg's time.

Button improves to fourth, 1.058s off Rosberg. Not far off Bottas either...

But Bottas leaps up to P2, just 0.118s off Rosberg's provisional pole time.

Massa cannot improve on P4. He's eight tenths off Bottas too....

Alonso jumps above Massa into P4. Button still out there and has set a personal best first sector, as has Vettel.

Rosberg goes purple through the first sector so he clearly has the pace to lower his benchmark further.

Vettel fastest through the middle sector.

Vettel takes P1 for the time being, by 0.035s....

But Rosberg takes it by four tenths, a 1:22.715 putting him well clear of his countryman.

So a bit of a worry for Rosberg early in that session but he seemed to have it in hand in the end. Ricciardo managed to jump into P4 at the end, by the way, knocking Alonso down to the third row.

So tomorrow Rosberg needs to navigate the first corner and victory is his again, right? It looks likely if it stayed dry but we've seen here today what a game-changer the rain can be.

Rosberg comes into parc ferme. I wonder how much he will be celebrating that one, this could be the most crucial pole position of his season so far.

Rosberg waves to the crowd as he walks to the weigh-in. He will have wanted a straight fight with his team-mate, no doubt.

That grid sets up a very interesting race tomorrow, with Bottas once again thoroughly impressive as he splits the Red Bulls.

But the big story, love him or hate him, is that early engine trouble for Lewis Hamilton, which will likely see him starting from the pit lane tomorrow.

But the big story, love him or hate him, is that early engine trouble for Lewis Hamilton, which will likely see him starting from the pit lane tomorrow.

Thanks as always for joining me this afternoon and please be sure to come back tomorrow for what promises to be a very interesting race on Sunday.


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