F1 2023, Daniel Ricciardo, Hungarian Grand Prix, qualifying, analysis, reaction,

You could never have guessed when Lewis Hamilton won the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from first on the grid to level the champion with Max Verstappen that he’d just enjoyed his last pole and victory for almost 20 months.

At the time he seemed sure to bounce back with a new determination to take what he felt was owed to him.

Instead he’s been wallowing just off the pace.

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It must have grated too, at least a little bit, to see new teammate George Russell take the team’s only other pole and win since 2021 — in Hungary and Brazil last year — after Hamilton had put in the hard development yards earlier in the season.

But finally it’s his turn to reap the rewards, and he may have chosen the perfect race to maximise his chances.

Not only is the Hungaroring a Hamilton fortress, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing appear to have made a critical set-up mistake this weekend.

The combination of a car upgrade, reduced practice time due to rain and tyre allocations, and changeable weather tripped up the runaway title leader in the qualifying battle by the slimmest of margins — just 0.003 seconds.

What we don’t know yet is whether that same combination will prevent Verstappen from running away with victory on Sunday — or perhaps even from contending at all.

With both McLaren drivers directly behind him — and Lando Norris was so close to demoting the Dutchman to third — and a very unusual grid further back, even Verstappen himself isn’t expecting a straightforward Sunday.

HAMILTON CLAIMS EMOTIONAL RECORD — WITH ANOTHER IN THE OFFING

Hamilton’s 104th pole was 596 days in the making, dating back to his top qualifying performance at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

His last front-row start came at the following round in Abu Dhabi, where he lost the title to Max Verstappen.

You could hear the weight of that burden being lifted on his cool-down radio and his post-session interview.

“It’s an extraordinary feeling after you’ve been here for such a long time and you’ve had the success before,” he said. “Even though it’s 104 it feels like the first. It’s hard to explain how special it feels.”

If it was going to happen anywhere, it was going to happen in Budapest.

Hamilton loves this track, and he has the stats to prove it.

This was his ninth pole position at the Hungaroring, the most of any driver at one circuit.

He previously jointly held the record with Ayrton Senna’s eight poles in Imola and Michael Schumacher’s eight in Suzuka. Hamilton also had eight poles at Albert Park.

Converting on Sunday will generate a little more…