Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) earned McLaren's 150th pole position by beating everyone in Q3 of the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session.

Hamilton had the upper hand over Romain Grosjean (Lotus), whose ultimate effort across the line was insufficient to beat the Briton's. Even reigning world championship Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) could do nothing to reach the McLaren driver.

Hamilton teammate's Jenson Button lines up fourth, beside Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) posted the fifth fastest lap.

Meanwhile the third row is filled by with Ferrari drivers; Fernando Alonso (6th) and Felipe Massa (7th), thanks to an honourable performance by the Brazilian who seems to have definitely put his struggles behind him.

Williams drivers' also met on the same row of the starting grid, since Pastor Maldonado posted the eighth best lap and Bruno Senna – who cracked the top 10 for the first time this season – the ninth.

Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) had once more the upper hand over his highly rated teammate. Thanks to his performance, he will start 10th.

Disappointments for Mark Webber (Red Bull) who, unlike Hulkenberg, failed to make it to Q3, and for the two Mercedes drivers. Michael Schumacher is a distant 17th on the grid and Nico Rosberg a sad 13th.



Qualifying results* – Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest)

1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1’20”953 – Q3

2. Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1’21”366 – Q3

3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1’21”416 – Q3
4. Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) – 1’21”583 – Q3

5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) – 1’21”730 – Q3

6. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) – 1’21”844 – Q3

7. Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) – 1’21”900 – Q3
8. Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1’21”939 – Q3
9. Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) – 1’22”343 – Q3
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1’22”847 – Q3
11. Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) – 1’21”715 – Q2

12. Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) – 1’21”813 – Q2
13. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1’21”895 – Q2
14. Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1’21”895 – Q2
15. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) – 1’22”300 – Q2

16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1’22”380 – Q2

17. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W03) – 1’22”723 – Q2

18. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) – 1’23”250 – Q1

19. Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1’23”576 – Q1

20. Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) – 1’24”167 – Q1

21. Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1’25”244 – Q1
22. Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) – 1’25”476 – Q1

23. Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1’25”916 – Q1
24. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT F112-Cosworth) – 1’26”178 – Q1

* Unofficial results