Budapest, July 29: Formula One championship leader Sebastian Vettel drove his Ferrari racing car the fastest on Saturday to take pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix just ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Vettel, who leads the 2017 standings from second-placed Lewis Hamilton by one point, stopped the clock at one minute, 16.276 seconds, crossing the finish line 0.168 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, reports Efe.

Valtteri Bottas drove faster than his Mercedes teammate, Hamilton, as the Silver Arrows filled the second row of the grid.

The third row was filled by Red Bull cars, with Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

Behind the Australian was Nico Hulkenberg in his Renault, but a gearbox change would mean he would have to drop five places for Sunday's race.

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): A 48th career pole for Sebastian Vettel 👏#Quali #HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/J3q2iQeRk6

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2017

Vettel's pole-earning time set a new record at the circuit, a benchmark Hamilton was not able to challenge because the English driver slid off the circuit at Turn four during his first attempt at a flying lap.

Hamilton had been trying to match Michael Schumacher's all time record of 68 career pole positions.

The 32-year-old Hamilton will have to wait until the next F1 race at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium to have a shot at equalling the pole record.

Sebastian Vettel was on 🔥 in #Quali

He broke the Hungaroring track record on his way to pole at the #HungarianGP 🇭🇺 pic.twitter.com/74B2j8TPOF

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2017

Paul Di Resta was called in to drive Felipe Massa's Williams car after the Brazilian driver was too unwell to take his seat.

IANS