Section:OBS 2S PaGe:15 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 18:10 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
- The Observer
Formula One 04.08.19 15
Hungarian Grand Prix
In brief
Cycling
Froome targets next
year’s Tour de FranceChris Froome described the
aftermath of his horror crash at
the Critérium du Dauphiné in
June as like something out of a
television drama, but believes
he is ahead of schedule in his
rehabilitation as he sets his sights
on next summer’s Tour de France.
The 34-year-old said he has no
recollection of the crash itself,
which left him in intensive care
with multiple fractures, but he can
recall what came next. “One of my
fi rst questions was: ‘Am I going to
be all right for the Tour de France?’
and they very quickly put that out
of my mind. I think those fi rst few
moments are the ones that really
sort of hit home and I took it on
board that I’m not going be racing
the Tour de France this summer. It
almost felt like a scene from Grey’s
Anatomy or something.”
Froome now faces a long
battle back to fi tness, given the
seriousness of his injuries, and it
remains to be seen if he can return
to his previous level. However, his
target is clear: “The goal I’ve set
myself is to get back to the Tour de
France next year,” he said. “Week by
week, I set myself little goals. But,
for me, the underlying goal is to get
to the start of the Tour de France in
2020 and to be in a similar or better
position than I was this year. That’s
what’s driving me .” PAMotoGP
Márquez gambles and
equals pole recordMarc Márquez took a tyre gamble
in drying conditions and equalled
Mick Doohan’s record of 58 top-
class pole positions at the Czech
Grand Prix in Brno. Honda’s
Spanish MotoGP world champion,
on slick tyres following rain, lapped
with a best time of 2min 2.753sec;
2.524sec quicker than Jack Miller,
who qualifi ed second for the non-
works Pramac Ducati team. Miller
crashed at the wet fi nal turn after
his quickest effort. Márquez’s hefty
pole margin was the biggest of his
MotoGP career so far. Johann Zarco,
who came through fi rst qualifying
and, unlike others, stayed on wet
tyres throughout the main session,
took his KTM team’s fi rst front-row
slot in third place. ReutersRepsol Honda’s Marc Márquez
matched Mick Doohan’s record of
58 top-class pole positions in BrnoVer s t app en’s fi rst pole turns
the heat on trailing Hamilton
Already adored by the hordes of
orange-swathed fans who flock
to grands prix in Europe, Max
Verstappen gave them reason to roar
until they were hoarse in Hungary. In
claiming the fi rst pole position of his
career at the Hungarian Grand Prix
he also became the fi rst Dutch driver
to claim the top spot in Formula One.
It was, moreover, a further statement
of his talent and another more than
welcome challenge to the Mercedes
F1 hegemony.
Verstappen did so for Red Bull with
a fl awless lap of the Hungaroring,
although pushed to the limit by the
Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who is in
second place. Lewis Hamilton, also
for Mercedes, is third with Charles
Leclerc next, heading Sebastian
Vettel, in the Ferraris.
Pole has been a long time com-
ing for a man who is still deceptively
young. Verstappen is only 21 but is in
his fi fth season in F1. Having become
the youngest driver to compete in
the sport, and its youngest winner ,he was entirely unconcerned that he
was only its fourth youngest driver to
claim pole. He has matured so much
in those fi ve years that, while he was
elated with the place, there was also
the calm consideration of a driver who
knows the real business begins today.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “This was
still missing. The car felt good all
weekend. I’m very happy about today
but there’s still a race to do and that’s
the most important.”
He has every reason to be c onfi dent
for th e race as well, with two wins
from three races and with the Red Bull
displaying a remarkable turn of pace
around a track which plays to their
aerodynamic strengths. Verstappen
clearly had the balance and stability
required for the frequent direction
changes at the Hungaroring and was
able to exploit them.
He did so with some style. He went
quickest on his fi rst hot run in Q3
with a time of 1min 14.958sec, almost
two tenths clear of both Bottas in sec-
ond and Hamilton in third. That was
a mighty advantage to overcome but,
much as Bottas tried, he could make
little impression. Indeed Verstappen
found even more on his second run.
Pushing his Red Bull to the edge, he
was on another level on his last lap ,
when he went almost half a second
quicker with 1min 14.572sec. It was
superb.
Bottas followed him to within a
hundredth but could not match him.
Hamilton, despite looking strong
this weekend, was almost two-tenths
back.There were rightly celebrations
at Red Bull for their fi rst pole this
season and with the engine manu-
facturer Honda, for whom it is a fi rst
pole since Jenson Button took the top
spot at Australia in 2006.
Hamilton was disappointed in
being unable to challenge harder.
“The car wasn’t the same as it was in
third practice,” he said.
“It was a bit of a struggle, just
plateaued. It didn’t really get better.But we’re still in the fi ght, hopefully
for the race we’ll have better race
pace.”
There were smiles, however, at the
other end of the pitlane, as Williams
turned in their best qualifying of the
year. Having fi nally brought the aero
upgrades they have been waiting for
to Germany it paid off in Hungary,
with George Russell in 16th. It was a
superb run and the fi rst time Williams
have not been slowest on track in
qualifying this year. Optimism that
they can move closer to the midfi eld
looks justifi ed.
Ferrari had expected to be under
the cosh through the slow and
medium-speed corners of the
Hungaroring but Leclerc did not help
their cause. He lost the rear, too hot
into the fi nal corner and spun into
the wall in Q1, taking minor damage.
Remarkably his car was still able to
put in good times and he did well to
take fourth.
The day, however, belonged
emphatically to Verstappen,
continuing a strong and consistent
opening to the season. He is third in
the world championship, 63 points
behind Hamilton and 21 in front of
Vettel and there was optimism there
would be more reasons for the Dutch
fans to celebrate today.
“We know that, if you can start
upfront for the race, it makes it easier
to control,” he said.
“We have been working really hard
to improve the engine in quali to get
more out if it. That showed today. We
keep improving.”Just six days after a
sublime victory in the
Hockenheim rain the
Dutchman thrills his
orange army again
Giles Richards
HungaroringHungarian Grand Prix
2.10pm Sky Sports F11 M Verstappen (Ne th) Red Bull 1: 14.572
2 V Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:14.590
3 L Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1:14.769
4 C Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:15.043
5 S Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:15.071
6 P Gasly (Fr) Red Bull 1:15.450
7 L Norris (GB) McLaren 1:15.800
8 C Sainz (Sp) McLaren 1:15.852
9 R Grosjean (Fr) Haas 1:16.013
10 K Räikk önen (Fin) A Romeo 1:16.041
11 N Hülkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:16.565
12 A Albon (Th a) Toro Rosso 1:16.687
13 D Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso 1:16.692
14 A Giovinazzi (It) Alfa Romeo 1:16.804
15 K Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:17.081
16 G Russell (GB) Williams 1:17.031
17 S Pérez (Mex) Racing Point 1:17.109
18 D Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:17.257
19 L Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:17.542
20 R Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:18.324
Drivers’ standings
1 L Hamilton (Mercedes) 7 wins 225pts
2 V Bottas (Mercesdes) 2 wins 184pts
3 M Verstappen (Red Bull) 2 wins 162pts
4 S Vettel (Ferrari) 0 wins 141pts
5 C Leclerc (Ferrari) 0 wins 120ptsToday’s grid
Max Verstappen salutes his fans. The
Dutchman is the 100th driver to start on pole,
the fi rst for a Honda-powered car since 2006STEVEN TEE/LAT IMAGES/REX/SHUTTERSTOCKРЕЛИЗ
ПОДГОТОВИЛАГРУППА"What's News"VK.COM/WSNWSРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS