Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) has achieved his fourth pole position of this season by using Bridgestone’s soft compound Potenza to go fastest in qualifying at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix, round eleven of the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Hamilton’s lap time – a 1min 20.899secs - was over two tenths of a second quicker than that of his team-mate Hiekki Kovalainen, who was second fastest, also using the soft tyre. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1 Team) set the third and fourth fastest times.

Timo Glock (Panasonic Toyota Racing) achieved his best qualifying result of the season by going fifth fastest and Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) will start alongside him. Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) qualified in seventh with Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) eighth. Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing) and Nelson Piquet (ING Renault F1 Team) were the final two drivers to qualify inside the top ten.

In the morning practice session Hamilton topped the times with a 1min 20.228secs lap, set on the super soft compound. Hamilton was over three tenths faster than Massa, with Glock the third quickest. Weather conditions were hot and dry all day. Today’s fastest lap time, a 1min 19.068secs, was set by Massa using the soft compound in Q2.

Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development, said:

“Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his second pole position in a row and second pole position in Hungary. We must also congratulate Timo Glock for his best qualifying of the year, especially coming after his accident in Germany. When the cars were lighter, in Q1 and Q2, the super soft compound was generally the faster tyre. However, when the cars were heavier in Q3 the soft tyre seemed to be faster and gave a better feeling to the drivers. The circuit has improved further so tomorrow it will be very interesting in terms of tyre strategy. Both compounds deliver good lap times and the wear rate, even of the super soft, is good, meaning that many different options are possible.”

Stats of the Day

Total amount of laps completed by all drivers: 666 laps

Average number of laps per driver: 33 laps

Most laps by a driver: 45 – Glock

Fastest lap: 1min 19.068secs – (Q2)

Compounds used: Soft / Super Soft

Hungarian Grand Prix in 2007

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton used a soft – soft – super soft tyre strategy to win the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix, beating Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Kimi Raikkonen across the line by 0.7 seconds. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1 Team) took third position after using a three stop strategy.