Hamilton claims pole in Hungary

Updated 15.11 Sat Aug 02 2008

Lewis Hamilton is on course for a third successive Grand Prix win after grabbing pole position in Hungary.

The Briton powered around the blisteringly hot Hungaroring track in one minute 20.899 seconds, with team mate Heikki Kovalainen posting the second best time of one minute 21.140 seconds.

"I definitely have the feeling we can push these guys tomorrow" - Hamilton

The world championship leader's nearest rival for the drivers' title, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, had to settle for third place after finishing his last flying lap in one minute 21.191 seconds.

The qualifying result will give the McLaren team a huge advantage in tomorrow's race, as it will be hard to overtake on the slow and twisty Budapest course.

Massa's team mate Kimi Raikkonen will start in a disappointing sixth place behind BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica and Toyota's Timo Glock.

Hamilton said: "It's been a pretty decent weekend for us so far and I feel safe with the position we're in."

He added: "The team have done a great job in improving our car even from the last weekend and it would be great to get a 1-2 on Sunday. It would be about time."

"I definitely have the feeling we can push these guys tomorrow."

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