Mercedes struggles in Hungarian GP qualifying

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

In a challenging outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Mercedes found themselves off the desired pace during Saturday's qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton secured a fifth-place start while his teammate, George Russell, faced a disappointing Q1 exit, lining up 17th on the grid.

Team boss Toto Wolff minced no words in his assessment, stating it was a "total underperformance from literally everybody involved here."

Despite Hamilton's illustrious record of 104 pole positions, Hungary—a circuit where he boasts a record nine career poles—saw the seven-time world champion fall short. This qualifying session also marks a year since Hamilton last topped the charts.

Reflecting on the performance, Hamilton, who celebrated a return to the top of the podium at Silverstone on July 7 with his first win since 2021, was philosophical yet unsatisfied. "We came to try and be at the front and you can never be satisfied. If we had optimized everything, we could have likely gone one tenth or two quicker, but we didn't have enough to challenge for pole position today," he remarked. The British driver has only outqualified Russell three times so far in 2024.

Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes' trackside engineering director, provided further insights, revealing ongoing struggles with the current generation of car. "Lewis hasn't disguised the fact that Saturdays are his tough day," Shovlin stated. "He's struggled with this whole generation of car, really, not suiting his style. He's been working on how he drives."

Shovlin highlighted the fine margins between the two drivers and noted that Hamilton's confidence was building. "We'll keep working on that. And I'm sure that we'll see hopefully some more Lewis pole positions as well," Shovlin expressed. He also reinforced that Hamilton's long-run pace was never in question, pointing out that "most of our work has been trying to give him a car that you can drive in an attacking style, extract the lap time out of it without it just sort of breaking away on the way in and catching him by surprise."

Russell, who has amassed two poles and a win this season, will be looking to bounce back in the next race. The 17th-place start in Hungary presents a steep challenge, but both drivers and the team remain focused on refining their approach for better outcomes.

Hamilton's next opportunity to reclaim pole position will be at the Belgian Grand Prix next weekend. The sports world will closely watch to see if the sport’s most successful driver can return to his pole-winning ways.

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