Nico Hulkenberg reckons 10th on the grid represented about the maximum he could have achieved in his Williams on Saturday amid the tight midfield pack of teams.
The fast-improving rookie made Q3 for the third time in the last four races, outqualifying veteran team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the process after the Brazilian failed to make the second stage cut.
Less than seven tenths of a second separated Nico Rosberg in sixth to Hulkenberg, but the German rookie was quite content with his qualifying result, although he admitted the performance of several cars ahead of him had been a slight surprise.
Asked if he felt there had been more speed to extract from his FW32, Hulkenberg replied: “Not really, I think.
“Getting into Q3 first of all is positive. Then I had a difficult second run on the new ‘option’ [compound].
“During the [final] laps I was a bit behind my [1m]21.2[s], so I tried a bit harder and lost out at turn 12 on my last lap and then the lap was done.
“So I came in [to the pits] for that reason.
So not really [surprised to qualify 10th].
“Surprised by de la Rosa a bit, his performance was pretty good, and also the Renaults very strong, and also Rosberg.”
Williams is hoping to improve its starts this weekend after both its cars lost ground from strong qualifying positions last Sunday in Germany.
But although in theory Hulkenberg’s chances of a good getaway this time may be hampered by the fact the 10th-place grid slot is on the ‘dirty’ side of the grid, the driver is not buying into this suggestion.
“I don’t believe in this dirty, good and bad, side,” Hulkenberg said.
“It’s b******* in my opinion. It’s always the same, it doesn’t matter which side it is, I think personally.
"You just need a good start technically, not have too much wheelspin and all that needs to be right. Then it doesn’t matter which side you start.”
Last Sunday Williams attempted to make up the ground Hulkenberg lost at the start by keeping him out on the super-soft tyres for an astonishing 34 laps.
But while the rookie thinks a long first stint on the compound will be possible at the Hungaroring as well if the tyres hold on, he thinks the fact the medium, rather than the hard, tyre is the other compound on offer means there will be less to gain from staying on the ‘option’ rubber for an extended stint.
“I think they didn’t look too bad so as long as you keep your tyre alive and the lap times are good you can stay out,” he said.
“In Hockenheim we had the hard ones which were quite difficult to get to work properly and here it’s the medium so it’s easier – and it’s hotter – so I think the window is a bit smaller there.
“Maybe the medium is favourable [to do the long runs in the race].”
Meanwhile, Barrichello blamed traffic on his out lap early in Q2 for his failure to make the top-10 shootout for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix in mid-June.
The Brazilian was eventually consigned to 12th on the grid after a mistake towards the end of his final do-or-die lap, but says car’s balance and tyres had already gone awry by then.
“In Q1, I was very happy, the car was perfect and I only needed one run and was quite comfortable to see the rest of the session out in the garage,” said Barrichello.
“Then going into Q2, I had a lot of traffic on my out lap and basically because the lap was so slow, I don't think the tyre got up to operating temperature.
“The tyres were just not there, and the car balance was out and by the last run, the tyres had given up.”