Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes F1 Hungaroring Qualifying

Budapest, Saturday 2nd August 2008

Lewis Hamilton MP4-23 07

Heikki Kovalainen MP4-23 05

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will start Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, near Budapest, from an all-Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row. In an exciting qualifying sessions, Lewis set a time of 1m20.899 and took his 10th Formula 1 career pole position, the fifth for the team this year and the third in a row. Heikki was second fastest with a 1m21.140 and completed the McLaren Mercedes partnership’s 26th 1-2 qualifying.

Lewis: 3 laps, 1:19.376 (1st) 3 laps, 1:19.473 (3rd) 6 laps, 1:20.899 (1st)

Heikki: 4 laps, 1:19.945 (4th) 6 laps, 1:19.480 (4th) 6 laps, 1:21.140 (2nd)

"The team has done a fantastic job of continually improving the car over the past few weeks, so I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved today. It’s great to have locked out the front row with Heikki - we’ve been threatening to do it for a number of races, so to achieve it at a track where it’s tricky to pass is really satisfying.

There’s a great harmony within the team at the moment and we really deserved this. I couldn’t ask to be in a better position, we’ve both got good strategies for tomorrow and we’ll be challenging for the win."

"It was difficult to choose the right tyre for the final session and I felt I could have done a slightly faster lap in Q3, but I was a little cautious in Turn Two. Still, we’ve found a great direction with the car and I’ve got a great opportunity to win the race tomorrow.

It’s fantastic to be starting on the front row alongside Lewis. I hope that starting on. the dirty side of the track won’t be a disadvantage and I fully expect us to look out for each other in the first corner tomorrow. This result really repays the team for all its efforts over the past few months."

"Today's all-Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row is a fitting tribute to the phenomenal amount of hard work carried out by the whole team in the lead-up to the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. We brought to Budapest the developments that were originally destined to be incorporated into our Valencia-spec car, and the signs are that it has been an effective move.

A qualifying one-two is a rare and pleasing achievement, so I want to say a big 'thank you' to all the people who worked so hard to make it possible - and that includes everyone in Woking (McLaren), in Brixworth (Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines) and of course in Stuttgart (Mercedes-Benz). Now we hope to convert our excellent qualifying performance into an equally solid race result."

"A great performance by Lewis, Heikki and our team - a dream and our third pole in a row one from Heikki, two from Lewis. I hope we will be able to turn our grid positions into a similar result in the race tomorrow." 

- Steve Cooper, Wolfgang Schattling -