Lewis Hamilton once again proved why he is one of the finest wet-weather drivers of his generation with a masterful performance to claim pole in a soggy qualifying at the Hungarian GP on Saturday.As conditions got progressively worse during the session, it would be about who could find the most grip around the sodden Hungaroring circuit and no-one could do so better than the reigning world champion, setting a 1m35.658s on the full wets on his final lap in Q3.That would put him ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas who backed up his teammate as Mercedes thrived in the wet conditions and Ferrari's advantage in the dry was completely eradicated.Sebastian Vettel had been the quickest man in the final practice two hours earlier, setting a new lap record in the process, but the German simply couldn't match the pace of his championship rival and will start fourth having been beaten by teammate Kimi Raikkonen.Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Red Bull, who were expected to fly in the wet and particularly Max Verstappen, who many consider the current rain-master in F1.Instead, the Dutchman would finish down in seventh and would be beaten by two other Red Bull-backed drivers as Carlos Sainz was fifth for Renault and Pierre Gasly matched his career-best qualifying result in sixth in the Toro Rosso.Brendon Hartley would also be right behind the 20-year-old in eighth as the two Haas' of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean completed the top 10.

Riding the storm

To tell the full story of the session you have to go back to the start with a downpour 20 minutes before the green light led to a damp track and all drivers heading out on the intermediate tyres with another storm expected to hit during Q1.

Despite the thunder and lightning, no significant rain fell, allowing the circuit to dry out enough for slicks but the top teams would be among the last to make the switch.

As the lap times continued to tumble, the main story being if Daniel Ricciardo, who had the Soft tyre fitted rather than Ultrasoft could avoid being knocked out in Q1.

Eventually, he would go fast enough to make it through comfortably with all the front-runners but there were some nervy moments on the Red Bull pit-wall.

The big losers would be the two Force India's as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez fell down to 18th and 19th respectively.

Also, the two rookies, Charles Leclerc and Sergey Sirotkin, who have limited experience in the wet, would struggle with the Sauber driver 17th and the Williams man last overall.

Stoffel Vandoorne was the unlucky driver to just miss out in P16.

Ricciardo's luck runs out

In Q2, the drivers tried to go out and set a time on slicks again but suddenly the rain would return again at the final sector causing all to scamper back to the pits for intermediates.

All except Vettel who went straight out on the wet tyre and comfortably led the second segment having been on the track while it was at its driest.

After narrowly making it through Q1, Ricciardo wouldn't be so lucky the second time, as he missed the drier window in the opening minutes because of a yellow flag, leaving him down the field as the rain got heavier and eventually he'd only be fast enough for 12th on the grid.

Fernando Alonso would be just ahead in 11th with the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg behind in 13th, as the German also became a casualty of the conditions.

Marcus Ericsson and Lance Stroll would complete the Q2 order in 14th and 15th.

The full results of qualifying can be seen below:

Rain saves Mercedes, but what about the race?

A crazy and chaotic session which perhaps had an unexpected outcome as Mercedes emerged as comfortably the fastest team in the wet.

What it has done, however, is set the grid up for a fascinating race on Sunday with Ferrari expected to be the faster car but can they overhaul the Silver Arrows ahead of them?

As for Red Bull, earlier worries of qualifying on the third row seem timid compared to the eventual outcome of P7 and P12, will they be able to make their way back through on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously tough.

Right now though, everything is falling perfectly for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

Back on pole at a race which he already won a record five times at, it might just be foolish to bet against him making it six.