Hamilton holds on to Friday form

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After topping the timesheets at the conclusion of Friday's two 90-minute sessions at the Hungaroring, Hamilton posted the quickest lap of the weekend to date in the final hour-long run on Saturday.

The 24-year-old knocked a full second off his time from Friday, posting fastest lap after fastest lap in the closing 10 minutes, concluding with a best of one minute 21.009 seconds.

In a McLaren clearly hooked up to the tight, twisty circuit, the team's cars managed to finish practice on top at the end of each session.

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was quickest on Friday morning, second to Hamilton in the afternoon, with the duo first and fourth on Saturday.

Hamilton's nearest challenger was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, four-tenths of a second off the pace, with Williams' Nico Rosberg third, half a second down, followed by Kovalainen, 0.646secs adrift.

Question marks remain over Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing because while Hamilton was undoubtedly in qualifying trim, the title-chasing teams have yet to exploit their full potential.

Championship leader Jenson Button was down in 17th, team-mate Rubens Barrichello 13th, while Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were 10th and ninth respectively, just under a second down.

It could be one of the most wide-open qualifying sessions witnessed this season, certainly since the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix.

Remarkably, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi was fifth, and new boy team-mate Jaime Alguersuari was 18th, and at least not last as was the case in both sessions on Friday.