Renault’s Fernando Alonso will start Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix from pole position after a dramatic qualifying session at the Hungaroring, which saw Ferrari’s Felipe Massa helicoptered to hospital after a heavy crash in Q2. As news emerged that Massa was not seriously injured, Alonso went on to beat Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to P1 by less than a tenth of a second.
Massa hit the wall in Turn 4 after his helmet was struck by debris, believed to be a piece of suspension that had come loose from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn, knocking him out. Formula 1
The accident happened just before the end of the penultimate session of qualifying in which Massa had managed to clock the eighth fastest time.
The qualifying was held up while officials checked for debris and when it resumed Renault’s Alonso claimed pole with a time of one minute 21.559 seconds.
Sebastian Vettel, second in the title race to Jenson Button, will start alongside Alonso on the front row, with his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber qualifying third. CNN.com
It was the double world champion’s first pole since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007, and the 18th of his career.
Explaining the chaos at the end, Alonso said: “We were chatting amongst ourselves in parc ferme trying to find out what happened.
“It was a fantastic effort from the team. We put in some new parts at the Nurburging (German Grand Prix), and we’ve showed we have made a step forward.” The Press Association
Click Here to Read More:
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
Video: Felipe Massa Struck by Debris Then Crashes During Qualifying for Hungarian GP
Several minutes later came confirmation that defending champion Briton Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest for McLaren Mercedes ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Williams and Finn Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren.
Another Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari qualified seventh ahead of championship leader Briton Jenson Button in a Brawn GP car with Japanese Kazuki Nakajima ninth for Williams and Massa, who took no part in the top ten shootout, placed 10th.
Alguersuari was one of the first men on track when the session began and he soon clocked a decent lap time to claim a banker position. His Toro Rosso team had said shortly before the session that they were delighted with the efforts of the 19-year-old Spaniard this weekend.
Unfortunately, for the Iberian, it was not enough. He ended up with a problem on the track and parked at Turn 13 and ended up as one of the five men eliminated as he was 20th and slowest.
He joined Poland’s Robert Kubica and his BMW Sauber team-mate German Nick Heidfeld and the two Force India’s of Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella and German Adrian Sutil in failing to make the first cut from Q! to Q2,. AFP
| 
|