Lewis Hamilton needed a good qualifying session of Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday, July 29, to match Formula 1 great Michael Schumacher record of 68 pole. History also favoured the Brit, who had won a record five races at Hungaroring.
However, Hamilton finished an uninspiring fourth after suffering from consistent tyre problems. The Brit finished a little more than 0.4s slower than championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who grabbed the pole for Sunday's race.
Hamilton was the fastest in Q2, but he was able to achieve the timing only after doing two runs, unlike Ferrari and Red Bull, who chose to stay in the garage after their first run.
Vettel, along with Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen, made sure there was a Ferrari front row lockout for the first time since 2004.
Valtteri Bottas pipped Hamilton, but finished 0.2s slower than Vettel. Red Bull's Max verstappen finished fifth and will start the race on Sunday, July 30, from the third row along with teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
'We can't do anything'
Hamilton conceded there was little chance of beating the Ferraris on Sunday. Overtaking at Hungaroring has proved to be difficult in the recent past and the Brit acknowledges it despite winning last year's race after conceding the pole position to his then teammate Nico Rosberg.
"We can't do anything in the race. We can't follow or overtake a car that is as fast or faster. It is going to be a battle to get on the podium - and unless something happens with the others that is probably going to be where we are," Hamilton said.
Notably, the Brit now trails championship leader Vettel by just one point. The German started the season on a high but the Mercedes drivers' had bounced back with three wins in the last four races.
Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg of Renault and Fernando ALonso of McLaren will start from the fourth row, while Stoffel Vandoorne of McLaren and Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz complete the top 10.
When does the race start and where to watch it live
The Hungarian Grand Prix 2017 is scheduled for 2 pm local time, 5:30pm IST and 12pm BST. Live streaming and TV listings are given below:
India: TV: Star Sports Select HD2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports F1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: NBCSN. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.
Asia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play.
Australia: TV: Ten HD. Live Streaming: Ten Play.
