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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Daniel Moxon

Lewis Hamilton reacts after DRS issue as George Russell takes pole for Hungarian GP

Lewis Hamilton lamented an issue on his Mercedes which prevented him from matching George Russell's result in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The younger Brit secure the first pole position of his career in Budapest. It came as a complete shock to everyone including the racer himself, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc being beaten just when it looked like it was Ferrari's session to lose.

Red Bull had opened the door with a disaster in qualifying. Sergio Perez struggled for pace and went out in Q2, having to settle for 11th place, and Max Verstappen suffered a power unit issue which meant he could not set a good time, and will start the race in 10th.

Hamilton might have been able to challenge for pole himself, but suffered an issue with his drag reduction system which hampered his efforts. It means he will be starting the race from seventh, and will hope to climb in the early stages of the race to help his team-mate.

"I tried to open the DRS and it wouldn't open, which is unfortunate," said the seven-time world champion. "I was feeling great in the car, and the front row was definitely there so it would have been awesome to have got that front row for the team. But these things happen.

"Congratulations to George, he did an amazing job and that's a great result for the team given all that we've gone through. It's huge, so I'm really happy for everyone. We definitely didn't expect that."

Lewis Hamilton felt he could have done more in qualifying in Budapest (Sky Sports F1)

Meanwhile, Russell was "over the moon" and "absolutely buzzing" at the prospect of starting an F1 race from the front for the first time. "I mean, yesterday was arguably our worst Friday of the season and we worked so hard and we didn't know what direction to go in.

"Then that last lap I got around turn one, mega turn one, then mega turn two and the lap time just kept coming and kept coming. I came across the line and looked at the screen and saw we came P1 and it was an incredible feeling."

Russell's previous best qualifying performance came at the rain-soaked Belgian Grand Prix last year, when he set the second fastest time. A lack of competitive running meant he kept that place for the race result, and he will be hoping to repeat the trick on Sunday – even if he does have to actually race to keep hold of the lead.

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