Hamilton surprises himself with pole in Hungary

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position for the fourth time this season

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position for the fourth time this season after setting the fastest time at the end of qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix on Saturday. The British driver sounded stunned when his team announced over the race radio that he had beaten three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel.

Im really surprised, said Hamilton. Weve got a steep hill to climb tomorrow with these tires and these conditions. Hamilton clocked 1 minute,19.388 seconds,just ahead of Vettels best lap of 1:19.426.

There wasnt much missing. Lewis did a really good job, said Vettel. Its stupid to sit here and say We should have done this and we should have done that. I could be on pole,but still I think it puts us in a great place for tomorrow.

Nico Rosberg has won two races,while Hamilton is still looking to finish higher than third in a Mercedes that has great speed but lacks durability over a whole race. Its been the same for a long time. Its not a surprise for us, Hamilton said. Its great to have the pole position but it doesnt mean anything,its in the race where we score points.

Hamilton,the 2008 F1 champion,will hope that the Hungaroring helps him end that barren run. He won here last year for his third victory on the track. Ive been fortunate to have a good car for quite a few years with McLaren, Hamilton said.

Reprieve for Grosjean

Meanwhile,Race stewards upheld Romain Grosjean8217;s third place on the starting grid on Saturday after deciding that accidental damage had caused his Lotus to fail a post-qualifying stress test.

Technical delegate Jo Bauer had referred Lotus to the stewards after the front floor of the Frenchman8217;s car was found to be in breach of the technical regulations because its front floor flexed more than permitted when a load was applied at a given point.

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The stewards decided to take no further action after finding that the car had suffered a heavy impact in the second phase of qualifying when it 8216;bottomed8217; at turn 11. This is deemed to be a case of accidental damage,not a case of non-compliance,8221; they ruled in a statement.

Any sanction would have lifted Ferrari8217;s title contender Fernando Alonso,who is second overall and 34 points behind Vettel,from fifth to fourth.

Webber disappoints

Red Bulls Mark Webber did not make a run in Q3 because of a problem with KERS,and will start from 10th. Vettel moved to the top in Q2 with Lotus Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton close behind. But a late run saw both Mercedes take the top two places.

In a frantic last minute,Sergio Perez,Mark Webber and Felipe Massa made it through to Q3.