Rosberg Beats Hamilton to Hungarian GP Pole

Rosberg was summoned to see the stewards nearly four hours after claiming pole position at the Hungaroring, with officials alleging he failed to slow for yellow flags prompted by Fernando Alonso spinning his McLaren at the end of Q3.

Fernando Alonso spun his McLaren on the exit kerb of Turn 9 during Q3, bringing out double waved yellows at that section of the track and forcing a number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, to back off on quick laps. Other drivers slowed significantly and aborted their laps, whilst Rosberg went on to set the fastest middle sector of the session.

“According to the stewards, “telemetry demonstrated that the driver reduced speed significantly into Turn 8”.

Rosberg’s pole, albeit under investigation, is the 26th of his career and his fourth of the season.

“For me there was no question I had to lift because Fernando was on the track but for Nico, Fernando had cleared the track but there were still flags”. Hamilton, who was close behind the Spaniard, had his run neutralised by the resulting yellow flag, as did Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo.

A torrential rain shower in the build-up to qualifying forced the start of the session to be delayed by 20 minutes.

Rosberg meanwhile, continued after lifting off, allowing him to take the top spot for the second time at the Hungaroring.

A thunderstorm before qualifying contributed to chaotic scenes in the opening phase of the session.

Even if he were stripped of it, with Hamilton second Mercedes would still be guaranteed their 46th pole from the last 49 races, with the German outfit starting all but one round this year from the front.

Hamilton, who is bidding to win a record-breaking fifth time here, added: “Nico only lost a 10th of a second through the corner so if that’s really what we’re allowed to do in future on double yellows, we can approach it differently, but I’m not sure that’s the safest approach”. Bit unfortunate with Fernando, but these things happen. Team mate Kimi Raikkonen was a casualty of the rapidly shuffling order in changing conditions and was only 14th.

“Well yes, when it is a yellow flag it says that you have to be prepared to slow down or you have to slow down and lose some time”, he said.

Sebastian Vettel, victor in Hungary past year, was the sole Ferrari driver in the top 10 in fifth.