2022 Hungarian GP Qualifying Update

Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2022 Hungarian GP Qualifying Update. You can check out his outright preview here.

FP3 was wet as per the weather forecast. The rain ranged from biblical to partly sunny and drying at the very end. The result was Nicolas Latifi was fastest in the Williams, and Albon third in the other Williams. Utterly useless as a guide.

The very latest nowcast is for cloudy but dry conditions for the qualifying session. If we do get more rain, it is likely to be patchy and with the track still at 27 degrees, it will dry very quickly. A wet drying track opens things up to be a lottery, as we saw in FP3. If You want to play that lottery, buy tickets called Alonso, Norris or Magnussen, expect to lose, but you never know, it could be you.

Ferrari The Team To Beat If Dry

I expect it to be dry and which case Leclerc or Sainz will be hard to beat. Both were fastest in one of the two sessions yesterday, and as expected, the Ferrari is the best car on this track.

Others who should do well are the McLarens’, Alonso and Vettel, if they can fix his car in time after he pranged it in the wet this morning. Norris was P2 in FP 2 which was meritorious And it is between him and Alonso in the best of the rest category.

Charles Leclerc is the 1.85 favourite and I can’t argue with that. Sainz is 4.50 and Verstappen 5.00. The only driver of interest is Lando Norris at 34.00. His best two qualifying performances have come in the wet/dry session at Imola where he was 3rd, and at Monaco where he was 5th in the dry. Neither of those results would have produced a play out as the places are only 1st and 2nd.

Obviously, if we were to get more rain, Norris would be very appealing, but the radar suggests that the rain has now cleared, and the session will be dry. Norris was second in FP2 in the dry, but it is likely that McLaren were running lighter and/or a higher power unit mode.

Sainz Makes Some Appeal

Carlos Sainz makes some appeal at 4.50. He was fastest in FP1 but only third in FP2 after making changes to the setup which didn’t work. He says that they have reverted to the original set up, but we couldn’t tell much from the FP3 lottery. However, Leclerc has seven poles this season, Sainz one, and Leclerc has to be the strong favourite.

The best bet has to be Sergio Perez to beat Lewis Hamilton. Perez has gone off the boil in the last few races, but he is 11-1 up on Hamilton in qualifying in 2022. The Mercedes us at its worst in qualifying, wet or dry.

2022 Hungarian GP Qualifying Tip: 3 points Perez to beat Hamilton @ 1.83 with Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes have two more match bets which look worth backing.

2022 Hungarian GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point Alonso to bet Russell @ 2.00 with Ladbrokes

Alonso is a track specialist and has been going well so far. He was slower in FP1, but faster in FP2 and so far in 2022 it is just 7-5 to Russell.

2022 Hungarian GP Qualifying Tip: 1 point Russell to beat Hamilton @ 1.83 with Ladbrokes

It is 6-6 between the two Mercedes teammates in 2022 and so far this weekend, Russell has been faster in all three sessions.

Vettel to make Q3 makes some appeal at evens. He is a track specialist and was 11th and 7th yesterday. My concern is that his car may be damaged after his crash in FP3.

-JamesPunt