F1 Budapest - SAT - Qualifying: Double-Pole for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Budapest, Hungary, Aug 02, 2008

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen will start Sunday�s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, near Budapest, from an all Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row. In an exciting qualifying, Lewis set a time of 1m20.899 and took his 10th Formula 1 career pole position, the fifth for the team this year and the third in a row. Heikki was second fastest with a 1m21.140 and completed the McLaren Mercedes partnership�s 26th 1-2 qualifying.


Comments

Lewis Hamilton
�The team has done a fantastic job of continually improving the car over the past few weeks, so I�m really proud of what we�ve achieved today. It�s great to have locked out the front row with Heikki � we�ve been threatening to do it for a number of races, so to achieve it at a track where it�s tricky to pass is really satisfying. There�s a great harmony within the team at the moment and we really deserved this. I couldn�t ask to be in a better position, we�ve both got good strategies for tomorrow and we�ll be challenging for the win.�

Heikki Kovalainen
�It was difficult to choose the right tyre for the final session and I felt I could have done a slightly faster lap in Q3, but I was a little cautious in Turn Two. Still, we�ve found a great direction with the car and I�ve got a great opportunity to win the race tomorrow. It�s fantastic to be starting on the front row alongside Lewis. I hope that starting on. the dirty side of the track won�t be a disadvantage and I fully expect us to look out for each other in the first corner tomorrow. This result really repays the team for all its efforts over the past few months.�

Ron Dennis
"Today's all-Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row is a fitting tribute to the phenomenal amount of hard work carried out by the whole team in the lead-up to the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. We brought to Budapest the developments that were originally destined to be incorporated into our Valencia-spec car, and the signs are that it has been an effective move. A qualifying one-two is a rare and pleasing achievement, so I want to say a big 'thank you' to all the people who worked so hard to make it possible � and that includes everyone in Woking (McLaren), in Brixworth (Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines) and of course in Stuttgart (Mercedes-Benz). Now we hope to convert our excellent qualifying performance into an equally solid race result."

Norbert Haug
"A great performance by Lewis, Heikki and our team � a dream and our third pole in a row - one from Heikki, two from Lewis. I hope we will be able to turn our grid positions into a similar result in the race tomorrow.�







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