Lewis Hamilton, the drivers championship leader, put himself on course for a third successive Grand Prix victory with the tenth pole position of his career for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton drove his Mercedes McLaren around the blisteringly hot Hungaroring track in 1min 20.899sec, with Heikki Kovalainen, his McLaren team-mate posting the second-best time of 1:21.140. Hamilton’s nearest rival for the drivers’ title, Felipe Massa, in the Ferrari, was forced to settle for third place after finishing his last flying lap in 1:21.191.

Massa’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, the defending world champion, continued his poor run of form with a disappointing sixth place behind Robert Kubica, in the BMW, and Timo Glock, with a career-best fifth in his Toyota. The qualifying result will give a huge advantage to the McLaren team who should prove hard to overtake on the slow and twisty course in Budapest.

“It’s about time Heikki and I started one and two, so I’m very pleased,” Hamilton said. “The car was great, but you can never be too comfortable, although I feel safe in the position I’m in. We’re both on great strategies for the race to push for the win, and I aim to do that.

“It would be great to have a one-two in the race. The team deserve it, and I feel Heikki and I do, too. We’ve been working hard for it.”

Kovalainen, who on Thursday was confirmed as a McLaren driver for next year and whose final lap moved him up seven places from ninth, said that his car had been feeling strong in the past few races. “We have been improving the package more and more, which is a great effort from the team, and tomorrow should be quite an interesting race,” he said.

In contrast to Hamilton, Massa looked a little grumpy in the post-qualifying press conference. “I was not happy with any of my laps in Q3,” he said. “I just couldn’t do a great lap as I managed in Q1 and Q2, but we are still pretty strong. We are there and I feel I can push these guys [Hamilton and Kovalainen] tomorrow.”

Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary Grid positions after qualifying:

1 Lewis Hamilton (GB), McLaren, 1min 20.889sec
2 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin), McLaren, 1:21.140
3 Felipe Massa (Br), Ferrari, 1:21.191
4 Robert Kubica (Pol), BMW Sauber, 1:21.281
5 Timo Glock (Ger), Toyota, 1:21.326
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin), Ferrari, 1:21.516
7 Fernando Alonso (Sp), Renault, 1:21.698
8 Mark Webber (Aus), Red Bull, 1:21.732
9 Jarno Trulli (It), Toyota, 1:21.767
10 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Br), Renault, 1:22.371
11 Sebastian Vettel (Ger), Scuderia Toro Rosso, 1:20.144
12 Jenson Button (GB), Honda, 1:20.332
13 David Coulthard (GB), Red Bull, 1:20.502
14 Sebastien Bourdais (Fr), Scuderia Toro Rosso, 1:20.963
15 Nico Rosberg (Ger), Williams, 1:20.748
16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger), BMW Sauber, 1:21.045
17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jap), Williams, 1:21.085
18 Rubens Barrichello (Br), Honda, 1:21.332
19 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita), Force India, 1:21.670
20 Adrian Sutil (Ger), Force India, 1:22.113