2012 Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying

Qualifying for the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix was rather unexciting. The biggest surprise was Mark Webber being knocked out of Q3 at the very end of the second session. However, it could lead to a very exciting race.  Romain Grosjean who has not won this season is second on the grid. 

Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were the fastest drivers in the final practice session before qualifying. 

The first session began in the dry, though. Hamilton had the fastest time for most of the session at 1:21.794. Red Bull seemed to be running a very odd strategy. Webber was in 15th in the session, and Vettel was 16th. However, the team told Vettel to come in and where happy with his time. In the end, it put Vettel in 16th and 17th in the session, one spot away from being knocked out. 

For session 2, Button took an early lead with a 1:21.854 lap. That stood for several minutes session. Hamilton took first place with a 1:21.060 with about six minutes left in the session and was fastest in every section. Alonso could not find a fast time. He was on the bubble in 10th place with four minutes left. With 90 seconds left Hamilton was still first from his early fast lap time. Red Bull's strategy failed them in the second session. Mark Webber was in 10th, but Bruno Senna put in a fast lap and knocked him into 11th and out of the third session. 

The third session began, and it appeared that Raikkonen, Vettel and Hamilton were the favorites to take pole, but you would be crazy to count out Fernando Alonso, especially this year. With one minute left, just five of the ten drivers had put down times. Hamilton was leading with a 1:21.260, but Alonso had not gone yet. Vettel pulled in with 20 seconds left and was 0.2 off of Hamilton. Alonso gave himself one fast qualifying run could only manage sixth. Grosjean had a similar strategy and took second. That knocked Vettel into the second row.

Will this be the second race where Hamilton wins this season? He has been close multiple times, and maybe this time will be it. Grosjean has also yet to win this season, and this could be his chance. In a little over 24 hours, we could have another winner this season. Plus, rain is being forecast for tomorrow. You can follow it all here at Autoviva.