Nico Rosberg will be celebrating after collecting his fiftieth front row start at the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix. The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS driver set a time of 1min 19.965, becoming the only driver to drop below 1 minute 20 seconds.
The changeable conditions made for a dramatic end to qualifying, as team mate Lewis Hamilton was forced to abandon his final lap. Rosberg meanwhile, continued after lifting off, allowing him to take the top spot for the second time at the Hungaroring.
“That was a pretty exciting qualifying session.” stated Rosberg. “It was crazy conditions in the beginning with all the rain and the big puddles and a lot of cars went off. My car felt very good in the wet – but when it dried out that was the best situation for us as we know the Red Bulls are strong in the wet.”
“I gave it everything at the end of my last lap and it worked out. A big thanks to the team, as it was a great team effort to make sure I always had good track position.”
Going onto the final lap of Q3, Rosberg slowed significantly, allowing Hamilton and a number of other cars through. This meant that Fernando Alonso‘s spin affected him only slightly.
The incident was later taken to the stewards, but no penalty was given allowing the German to keep his twenty-sixth pole position of his career.
“It’s a great feeling to be on pole here in Hungary. Tomorrow it will be a big battle against Lewis and the Red Bulls, so I look forward to that.”
