Lewis Hamilton Nabs Pole No. 104 In Hungary (And First Since '21 If You Can Believe That)

Oddly enough, Lewis Hamilton — the man with the post starts from pole in Formula 1 history — grabbing the 104th pole of his career on Saturday in Hungary felt like a bit of a surprise.

Hamilton came out on top in the slightly revamped qualifying session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix and will start just ahead of his old rival from the 2021 season, Max Verstappen.

Despite the number of times Hamilton has started from the first spot on the grid, he hasn't done so since 2021 in Saudi Arabia.

Even wilder, during Friday practice, Hamilton seemed to be dealing with an unwieldy car. Even though the team managed to top the timesheet in FP3, a Hamilton pole seemed like a bit of a pipe dream.

“It’s been a crazy year and a half, so I’ve lost my voice from shouting so much in the car,” Hamilton told OutKick favorite Danica Patrick in parc fermé. “It’s amazing that feeling, I feel so grateful to be up here, because the team have worked so hard.

"We’ve been pushing so hard over this time, so to finally get a pole, it feels like the first time."

While Lewis Hamilton celebrated his first pole in nearly two years, teammate George Russell had to take a walk of shame after a disappointing early exit in Q1. (Photo by Dan Istitene - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Feast Or Famine For Mercedes In Hungary

While one side of the Mercedes garage was fired up, on teammate George Russell's side there was some extreme disappointment.

The new rules for qualifying were that only hard tires could be used in Q1, mediums in Q2, and soft in Q3. In Q1, there was insane track evolution as the track rubbered in. So, in what sounds like the right move, Mercedes sent Hamilton and Russell out for their final runs as late as possible to take advantage of the track being at its best for the lower-grip hard tires.

Buuuuuuuuut...

They didn't quite account for the traffic that Russell specifically encountered in the Hungaroring's twisty final sector. He was eliminated in Q1 and will start P18, just one year after taking pole at the same circuit.

Elsewhere, Max Verstappen will start the race in P2. He has had such a dominant season to this point that he was disappointed by that. However, he did seem to have more trouble with the car than he has most weekends. Whether that had to do with the new qualifying sessions or upgrades (which he said are working) who knows?

McLaren had another strong weekend to follow up a great outing at Silverstone. Drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start next to each other on the second row in P3 and P4.

Alfa Romeo looked fast all weekend and showed that speed was for real in qualifying. Zhou Guanyu qualified in P5 giving him the highest starting spot of his F1 career. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, will start just behind in P7.

Follow on Twitter: @Matt_Reigle