Lewis Hamilton shocked the whole world on Saturday by outjumping Max Verstappen at the end of qualifying to grab his first pole position of the year. For Mercedes, it was a great occasion, as their upgrades have finally sent them to the front of the grid. However, Hamilton himself is not very confident about turning that pole position into a win, despite the history between these two incredible drivers.
Hamilton will start alongside Verstappen in the front row, and many people expect a tasty duel between the two drivers during the opening stages. The Hungaroring isn’t the easiest of tracks to overtake on, which will make their duel even more interesting unless either of them gets a poor start.
Despite Hamilton starting ahead of the Red Bull ace, the latter remains the heavy favorite to win the Grand Prix. This isn’t a dig at Hamilton’s driving, but a nod at the RB19’s brilliance, which has helped Verstappen and Red Bull dominate every race so far this season. As things stand, even Hamilton agrees to this.
Lewis Hamilton is not bullish about outshining Max Verstappen
As reported by Andreas Haupt, of AMuS, Hamilton is not bullish about his chances at the Hungarian GP. This is because the seven-time world champion recognizes the fact that his car is still inferior to the Red Bull RB19 by quite some margin.
In fact, Haupt’s claim suggests that Hamilton knows in the long run, he will be 0.5 seconds a lap slower than Verstappen. This will make it incredibly difficult for him to keep his 25-year-old rival at bay, even if he gets a blisteringly quick start.
Realistically, Hamilton will want to give the best he can but the fact that he is conceding defeat to Verstappen even before the race starts, isn’t a good sign for his fans. Meanwhile, both Hamilton and Verstappen have to keep an eye out for a potential contender for the race once the lights go out.
Can Verstappen and Hamilton survive the Lando Norris threat?
Over the last few weeks, McLaren’s progress has caught the entire F1 world by storm. The Woking-based outfit has developed the MCL60 tremendously, allowing both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to compete towards the front of the grid.
Norris earned a podium finish in Silverstone two weeks ago, finishing 10 seconds behind Verstappen, but also managing to hold Hamilton off. The young Brit will be hoping for a repeat of Britain as a bare minimum.
Norris’ main aim will be to outshine both Verstappen and Hamilton to cross the chequered flag in first, to get his first ever Grand Prix win.
