Hungarian Qualifying: Williams drivers 5th & 9th

After seeing their drivers finish in third and eighth in the final practice session the
AT&T Williams team would be hopeful of a good result in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. With strong breeze blowing across the circuit the opening twenty minute period would get underway with Fisichella first out followed by Alguersuari and Buemi. Alguersuari was on the super soft tyres as Nico sat patiently in his car. Other drivers would take to the track including Raikkonen, Trulli, Glock, Piquet. Nico was also out of the pitlane.

The first times were set with Buemi fastest with a 1m:22.380 followed by Alguersuari and Fisichella. Kazuki and both Brawn's were out on the track. Fisichella was now second but Alguersuari would move ahead with a 1m:22.759. Fifteen minutes remaining and Raikkonen was now fourth. Piquet would move up to third followed by Glock. Buemi was fastest with a 1m:21.21.813 as Nico moved into second with a 1m:22.112. Alguersuari was third followed by Kazuki as Massa moved in to third. Raikkonen was now second, 1m:22.039, with Alguersuari now fifth. Nico was third and Kazuki down in seventh. Vettel was now fourth, 1m:22.288, while Kazuki had improved to be fifth with a 1m:22.461. Raikkonen was now fastest with a 1m:21.602 with Buemi still second.

Alonso was now fifth while Vettel moved to the top of the times with a 1m:21.590. Webber was now second, 1m:21.590, seeing Nico drop to fourth. Raikkonen's next alp would see him again fastest with a 1m:21.500.Kazuki was now in tenth, 1m:22.284, as Nico pitted. Vettel would also come in as Hamilton was now in sixth. Massa was seventh followed by Barrichello and Button. Neither of the BMW's had yet to set a time as Kazuki dropped to twelfth with Alonso
and Fisichella tenth and eleventh. Nico was running on the soft tyre so his time was quite encouraging. Nico would have a moment running wide at one of the chicanes but was able to continue.

After setting times Kubica and Heidfeld were eighteenth and nineteenth. Heidfeld would improve to be in sixth, 1m:21.738. Kubica would also improve to be in ninth with six minutes remaining. Kazuki was now in fourteenth followed by Kovalainen. Nico was back out this time on the super soft tyres. Only Sutil after his accident had not taken to the track. The drivers were now coming back out on the track looking to make sure they would make it through to the next period. With three minutes left it would be a mad rush of drivers setting times.

Kovalainen would be the first to improve moving up to seventh, 1m:21.750. Kazuki was struggling but had improved to be tenth, 1m:21.809. Hamilton was now fourth, 1m:21.603, but Massa would move into second, 1m:21.497, as Nico went fastest with a 1m:20.793. Vettel was second from Massa, Raikkonen, Webber, Hamilton, Buemi, Heidfeld, and Kovalainen. Alguersuari would stop at the penultimate corner and pulled off the track. With the end of the period Nico would pit while Webber moved up to second with a 1m:20.964. Kazuki had put in another quick alp moving up to fourth, 1m:21.407 but would be pushed down the order as Hamilton moved into second. Piquet was now fifth followed by Alonso. Kazuki was now seventh while Nico had remained fastest.

Those not making the cut were Heidfeld, Fisichella, Sutil, Kubica, and Alguersuari. The order was Nico from Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Piquet, Alonso, Kazuki, Trulli, Massa, Button, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Buemi, Glock, and in fifteenth Kovalainen. A great start to qualifying for the Williams team.

The next period would commence with Raikkonen first out followed by Trulli, Glock, Kovalainen, and Webber. Both Nico and Kazuki were also out on the track in what should be a real scramble to make the top ten. With eleven minutes remaining only the Renault's were still in their pits. The super soft tyre was the favoured tyre for the opening runs as Raikkonen went fastest with a 1m:24.552 but he was passed by Webber who was now fastest with a 1m:21.067. Glock was second from Kovalainen with Nico in fourth, 1m:22.792. Vettel was now fastest with a 1m:20.964 from Webber and Barrichello.

Button was sixth and Kazuki seventh. Nico was now in ninth as Hamilton moved into third, 1m:21.064. But Nico's next lap would see him fastest with a 1m:20.895 while Kazuki was now tenth. Vettel would pit joined by Webber. Button was now fifth followed by Barrichello with Kazuki now seventh. Massa was eighth while Nico would pit as Alonso went fastest with a 1m:20.885. Most drivers were back in their pits getting ready for their final runs. Kovalainen was in tenth as Piquet moved up to eleventh. With five minutes remaining the drivers would start to return to the circuit as Alonso improved his time with a 1m:20.826.

Nico was second and Kazuki eighth. Nico would leave the pit lane along with Vettel and Webber. Kazuki would also come out with three and a half minutes left in the period. Alonso was the only driver in the pits. Trulli would improve to be sixth, 1m:21.082. Raikkonen was slowest in fifteenth but would improve to be sixth pushing Kovalainen out of the top ten. Kazuki was tenth as Vettel went fastest with a 1m:20.604. Massa would move up from twelfth to eighth. Webber was now fastest with a 1m:20.358.

Nico was now fifth and Kazuki eleventh. Hamilton would move into second, 1m:20.465, as Massa improved to be fifth. So Webber was fastest from Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Kovalainen. Kazuki would improve to be third, 1m:20.570, seeing Vettel now fourth followed by Raikkonen, Button, Kovalainen, Massa, Alonso, and Nico in tenth. So with the end of the period we would have both Williams drivers making it into Q3. Those not making the cut were
Buemi, Trulli, Barrichello, Glock, and Piquet. Massa had gone off at Turn four hitting the tyre barriers with the front of his car buried deep in the tyres. To have Nico drop down to tenth was a bit of a surprise as he was always near the front of the times.

The final period of qualifying would be delayed as they craned Massa's car away. The Ferrari had damage to the front. Massa had left the track at speed leaving two big black tyre marks across the run-off area as Massa tried to slow down the car. The top ten drivers were Hamilton, Kovalainen, Massa, Raikkonen, Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Nico, Kazuki, and Button. Marshals were seen walking the track looking for debris after reports came back saying that Massa's helmet was struck by debris as he approached Turn Four. There were also reports that
Barrichello's car had lost parts at the rear of the car possibly explaining why the track is been checked.

The final period got underway with Nico out on the super soft tyre. Only Button had yet to come out. Massa would not be taking part in the period making it a top nine shootout. Nico would set a time of 1m:23.620. But he would be passed by Alonso and Kovalainen who were now first and second. Nico was third as Kazuki moved into fourth. Nico's next lap would see him again fastest with a 1m:22.386. Alonso was now second followed by Kovalainen and Raikkonen. But again other drivers would go faster with Webber, 1m:220.021, now fastest from Hamilton and Alonso. Vettel was now fourth seeing Nico fifth.

Nico would pit while Kazuki was in eighth. Button had yet to set a time as Nico retuned to the track. Webber would pit joined by Vettel. Button would take to the track for one run with two a half minutes remaining. Everyone was on the circuit as Hamilton pitted. Kazuki was on an improved lap as was Nico. Raikkonen would have a moment coming out of Turn seven costing him a lot of time.

Nico was again fastest with a 1m:21.890 but again Alonso went faster with a 1m:21.569. As the period ended there would be a problem with the timing screens as the laps continued. Alonso was still fastest from Vettel, Nico, and Webber. There was a lot of confusion as the drivers got out of their cars not knowing who was on pole. Alonso was asking who was on pole as he spoke to the other drivers. Reports also came back saying that Massa was taking as he went to hospital for the checks.

The results were finally shown with Alonso fastest from Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Nico, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Button, Kazuki, and Massa in tenth despite not having run. An encouraging result for the AT&T Williams team with Nico in fifth after what was turning out to be a competitive weekend for the Williams driver. Kazuki was down in ninth but it would come down to what strategy the Williams drivers were running on Sunday.