Hamilton can equal pole record, take F1 lead
BUDAPEST: If all goes to plan for Lewis Hamilton in Hungary this weekend, the Mercedes driver will equal one of Michael Schumacher’s records and head into Formula One’s summer break as sole leader of the championship.
Hamilton remains a long way off Schumacher’s record 91 race wins but in tomorrow’s qualifying at the Hungaroring, he could equal the great German’s hitherto unmatched 68 pole positions.
A 58th career win for the Briton, and sixth at the circuit outside Budapest, on Monday would send the triple world champion off on holiday with at least a sixpoint advantage over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Fourtimes champion Vettel has led since winning the Australian seasonopener in March, jointly with Hamilton after China, but the German arrives in Hungary only a point clear after 10 of 20 races.
Hamilton, beaten by nowretired team mate Nico Rosberg to the
2016 title, but winner in
Hungary, has not led the championship on his own since last September but has the momentum after a crushing home victory at Silverstone.
‘‘There’s lots more things that can come up in the future but I think the team’s really energised,’’ he said after winning from a career 67th pole position, adding that Mercedes had ‘‘absorbed all the energy’’ from the fans at Silverstone.
Mercedes is 55 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings but team boss Toto Wolff was wary of suggesting the champion was the favourite again rather than being the ‘‘underdogs’’ he had talked of after Monaco.
‘‘The moment you say that, you go to the next race and are slapped in the face,’’ the Austrian told reporters.
‘‘It is tricky. Our car is not always easy to set up and we have become much better at doing so in a great team effort.
‘‘But I’d like to see Budapest and how the car works on a low speed, high temperature track and then maybe have a more complete picture.’’
With 250 points still to be won in the drivers’ championship, Wolff said it was too early to pick a favourite.
The key, he said, was to extract every inch of performance and minimise mistakes, mindful that Russia and Monaco had not worked out for Hamilton, despite every expectation of success.
‘‘Going into the summer break with a lead is nice. But there was a very famous Austrian skier who was always sector world champion but never won the championship,’’ Wolff said.
‘‘So I’d like to have the gap [lead] before the holiday, but it doesn’t mean anything for the world championship.’’
For Vettel, Hungary is a chance to rebuild his advantage at a track that also holds good recent memories. In 2015 the Ferrari driver won after Hamilton started on pole.
Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, for whom Budapest is almost a home race, and compatriot Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes will also be strong contenders, as will Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. — Reuters