Lewis Hamilton has praised his Mercedes team for the effort put into returning to the top of F1 after taking pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Briton topped qualifying at the Hungaroring to secure his first pole since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - his 104th in F1 and ninth at the Budapest venue, a new record for the sport. Mercedes has faced a chastening 18 months after falling backwards in the pecking order under F1's new technical regulations, with Red Bull emerging as the dominant force with Max Verstappen at the wheel. But Hamilton secured only the second qualifying victory for the Silver Arrows in that time, with George Russell earning his maiden F1 pole at the same venue last season. "It has been a crazy year and a half," said Hamilton. "I have lost my voice from shouting so much in the car. It is amazing, that feeling. "I feel so grateful to be up here. The team have worked so hard, we have been pushing so hard over this time, so to finally get the first pole, it feels like the first time. "I didn't expect to be fighting for pole, so when it came to that last run, I gave it absolutely everything, there was nothing left in it."
Whilst Mercedes has taken large steps forward since introducing a major upgrade package at the Monaco Grand Prix that stepped away from its zeropod concept, and despite this new dawn, Hamilton has warned there is work yet to be done. "It's been massively challenging for every single person in the team," he added, pointing to the past 18 months. "There have been ups and downs, a big rollercoaster ride. But none of us have lost faith, we have all united together, focusing on trying to steer the car into a direction... we were losing so much time in Turn 4 and Turn 11 compared to the others, so I sent it and hoped it would stay on track. "It has been tough and will continue to be tough from here, but I think hopefully it shows we are on the right track and we can do it if we keep pushing."
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