Sebastian Vettel: Ferrari Hungarian GP front-row answers doubters

Sebastian Vettel described the "phenomenal" performance of Ferrari's car in qualifying for the Hungarian GP as the perfect response to the team's doubters.

Ferrari's disappointing British GP, when they were soundly beaten by Mercedes and lost crucial extra points via late tyre blow-outs, had given rise to suggestions that they had lost critical momentum in the title race.

Hungarian GP Qualy: Vettel storms to pole

But after claiming pole and a crucial front-row lockout at the Hungaroring for the first time since May's Monaco GP, the last race they won, championship leader Vettel said: "Obviously it's only Saturday, so nothing to get from today other than the best position and we did that.

"It's great, especially after...there's always a lot of talk but the talk after the last race was a bit too much so it's good to give the answer on the track."

On a day in which the Hungaroring's ultimate lap record was lowered several times, Vettel's pole-winning time of 1:16.276 was over a tenth quicker than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen's and 0.254s faster than the quickest Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

And Vettel even told Sky F1 that "in terms of raw pace, there was maybe even a bit more" after not improving on his final Q3 lap.

"You don't have these days too often in your life," he added.

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Lewis Hamilton, who cut Vettel's season-long title lead to just a point a fortnight ago at Silverstone, struggled in Q3 and will start from fourth on Sunday.

Vettel described the SF70-H's pace around the twisty lap as "phenomenal" and "incredible" as he achieved pole at the Hungaroring for the first time since 2011.

"We are working hard," he said. "The last race wasn't great for us. We are here and we try to do our best. We're happy where we are as a team and remember where we were 12 months ago.

"The main task comes tomorrow so nothing is won today but we're very happy."

Raikkonen initially trailed Vettel by a large margin on Saturday and was only fifth after the first Q3 runs despite Hamilton abandoning his opening effort.

But a stronger final lap secured the Finn second place to his team-mate - although Raikkonen was left to rue a mistake which he suspects cost him his second pole of the year.

"It was actually not too good," he said of his final lap. "The start was good and the end was not too bad but on the chicane I braked on the outside kerb and got loose. I really threw it away there.

"It's still decent enough for second place but it's a bit disappointing. I felt like I had it comfortably but I couldn't really finish it."

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