Ferrari got a huge boost as Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix with a blisteringly fast lap, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was second on Saturday.
"Yes, pole position, numero uno," their Ferrari team shouted over race radio as the German driver clinched the 48th career pole of his career.
"It was seamless, we didn't have any problems," Vettel said. "The car was fantastic today. It was really a pleasure to just go round."
Vettel is optimistic he can secure his fourth win of the season and expand his lead over lewis Hamilton heading into the summer break.
He leads Hamilton by one point after 10 races.
"Chances are good. The balance of the car was better today. I don't see why it should change tomorrow," he said. "But it's always hot here, tough on tires."
The four-time F1 champion clocked a best lap of 1 minute, 16.276 seconds, while Raikkonen was .168 behind in front of large contingent of flag-waving Finnish fans. Vettel stood on top of his Ferrari and waved to the crowd. He had extra reason to be happy, with both Mercedes cars behind him on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
Valtteri Bottas was third, .254 behind, while Hamilton could only manage fourth, .431 behind, as the British driver missed out on equaling Michael Schumacher's all-time pole record of 68.
Hamilton won the British GP two weeks ago while Vettel could manage only seventh. "Obviously, the last race wasn't great for us, but it doesn't matter now," Vettel said. "The main task comes tomorrow."
This time, it appears that Mercedes is on the back foot. "They clearly got the upper hand today. We clearly have a lot of work to do," Bottas said. "Clearly, we are not performing as we want."
Along with Monaco, the tight and twisting Hungaroring is the most difficult to overtake on, making the task facing Mercedes even harder.
"For sure the start will be important," said Bottas, who has won two races and is in third place overall.