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Qualifying report

Rosberg takes pole from Vettel in final seconds of Hungarian GP qualifying

Nico Rosberg will start from pole for the sixth time this year.

Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas celebrate in parce ferme

Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas celebrate in parce ferme

XPB Images

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 Team
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W05
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB10
Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing RB10
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG F1 W05
Daniil Kvyat, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR9 and Jean-Eric Vergne, Scuderia Toro Rosso STR9 in the pits
Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36
Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM07
Adrian Sutil, Sauber C33 locks up under braking
Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1 E22

Championship leader Nico Rosberg has done it again. The German-born racer will start from point for the third week in succession tomorrow. Sebastien Vettel snagged the second spot on the grid, which is only the third time this year he's been able to do that.

Williams' Valtteri Bottas placed third as he goes in search for his fourth straight podium result. Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top five. The remainder of the top ten was filled out by Felipe Massa, Jenson Button, Jean-Eric Vergne, Nico Hulkenberg, and Kevin Magnussen.

Q1

Q1 was a repeat of Germany for Lewis Hamilton. The four-time winner here exited the session early when a fuel leakage caused his Mercedes to catch fire. In the post-qualifying press conference, Rosberg commented on his teammate's issues.

"That's been a pity for the team, not a good thing definitely. I would prefer to be out there battling with Lewis. It takes a bit of the enjoyment out of it."

He will start very deep in the pack, back in 21st. He joined Kobayashi, Chilton, Ericsson, Maldonado, and Raikkonen as the drivers eliminated in Q1.

Yes, Raikkonen. The Ferrari driver was knocked out by the Marussia of Jules Bianchi. Bianchi has ties with the prancing horses and actually tested Raikkonen's car after his injury in Silverstone, posting the fastest time. Could this lead to bigger things for Bianchi? It very well could as Montezemolo's disappointment with Kimi mounts with every passing Grand Prix.

Q2

Q2 was mostly uneventful until the final seconds when Russian rookie Daniil Kvayt attempted to make one last push to advance, resulting in a spin. He, along with Sutil, Perez, Gutierrez, Grosjean, and Bianchi were eliminated.

Q3

Things got very interested in Q3. Rain began to fall at the start of the session, but not enough to force teams onto wet weather tires. A rooster tail was suddenly visisble at the rear of Rosberg's car as he stormed into turn one and chaos ensued. He and a few other drivers went off but were able to regain control.

Rookie Kevin Magnussen hit the grass however and slid completly out of control until he made a vicious impact with the tire barrier. The session was red flagged for seven minutes before finally resuming. In the final seconds, Sbeastian Vettel launched to the top of the charts. His time on point was short-lived though, as Rosberg threw down a time nearly half a second quicker than the Red Bull.

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