BUDAPEST, Aug 2: World championship leader Lewis Hamilton put himself on course for a third successive Grand Prix victory after grabbing an emphatic pole position for Sunday’s Hungarian race.

The Briton powered around the blisteringly hot Hungaroring track in one minute 20.899 seconds, with team mate Heikki Kovalainen posting the second best time of 1:21.140.

“It’s been a pretty decent weekend for us so far and I feel safe with the position we’re in,” Hamilton told a news conference.

“The team have done a great job in improving our car even from the last weekend and it would be great to get a 1-2 on Sunday. It would be about time.”

Hamilton’s nearest rival for the drivers’ title, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, had to settle for third place after finishing his last flying lap in 1:21.191.

“I wasn’t 100 percent happy with my laps in Q3,” said Massa, who trails Hamilton by four points in the standings. “I went out on the track at a little bit of a wrong time when there were too many cars around.

“That made it really tricky for the preparation of my tyres but I think our lap times from the first two qualifying sessions showed that we are pretty strong.”

Massa’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen will start in a disappointing sixth place behind BMW-Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Toyota’s Timo Glock.

The qualifying result will give a huge advantage to the McLaren team, who should prove hard to overtake on the slow and twisty Budapest course.

Starting grid after qualifying times:

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1 min 20.899 secs; 2. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:21.140; 3. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:21.191; 4. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:21.281; 5. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:21.326; 6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:21.516; 7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:21.698; 8. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull–Renault 1:21.732; 9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:21.767; 10. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:22.371; 11. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 1:20.144; 12. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:20.332; 13. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull–Renault 1:20.502; 14. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso–Ferrari 1:20.963; 15. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams–Toyota 1:21.033; 16. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:21.045; 17. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams–Toyota 1:21.085; 18. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:21.332; 19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India–Ferrari 1:21.670; 20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India–Ferrari 1:22.113.—Reuters