Hungary GP: Alonso on pole after Q3 timing confusion

Fernando Alonso

Renault

Fernando Alonso is the surprise pole sitter for the Hungarian grand prix following a bizarre qualifying session near Budapest.

Confusion reigned in parc ferme in the wake of the session, as the circuit's timing system had failed in the decisive moments of Q3.

It was some time before the Renault driver's top spot was confirmed, ahead of the two Red Bulls led by Sebastian Vettel.

"We made a step forward and are more competitive now," Spaniard Alonso, having achieved Renault's first pole since 2006, said.

"(We are) not as quick as the Red Bulls, but we are looking to score some good points tomorrow," he added, confirming that his R29 is carrying a light fuel load.

McLaren's practice pace was confirmed with the fourth (Lewis Hamilton) and sixth grid spots, while championship leader Jenson Button is just eighth.

Felipe Massa is scheduled to start Sunday's 70-lap race from tenth spot, but the Brazilian is currently in a Budapest hospital following his bizarre accident that delayed the start of Q3.

A Ferrari spokesman would not elaborate beyond saying Massa, who was struck on the head apparently by debris from the rear of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn and subsequently crashed, is "stable".

Neither BMW made it through the initial Q1, and Toro Rosso's teenage debutant Jaime Alguersuari qualified last, nine places behind his teammate Sebastien Buemi.

The strange qualifying session was compounded by the fact that in the closing minutes all the official timing screens went down.

The end result was that nobody knew who was on pole and the top 10 drivers got out of their cars and were swapping times to work out who had actually set the hot lap.

Each driver knows their own times because the cars have their own telemetry which follows them around the track.

In the old days, teams used to time the other cars as well as their own but the electronic timing system made that redundant.

"I think it was a fairly embarrassing moment for F1," said David Coulthard of the BBC. "The organizers didn't have a Plan B so there was no way to communicate the result to the drivers, the teams and fans watching around the world.

"In the end, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone had to come into parc ferme to try and sort it out."

Results