World champion and championship leader Sebastian Vettel produced a stunning last lap in qualifying on Saturday to seize pole position from Lewis Hamilton for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring outside Budapest.

In a tightly contested climax in which just two tenths of a second separated the top three, the Red Bull driver pipped McLaren's Hamilton by just 0.163 seconds with a time of 1 minute 19.815 seconds.

The Briton was lying fifth after 2 of the 3 rounds of qualifying but in his final lap became the first driver to break 1 minute 20 seconds with a time of 1 minute 19.978 seconds and looked set to claim pole position until the German driver's dramatic last run.

Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button produced a strong final lap to come third with a time of 1 minute 20.024 seconds.

The two Ferrari drivers, Brazilian Felipe Massa and Spain's Fernando Alonso, will start fourth and fifth on the grid respectively. Alonso led the pack after the second round of qualifying but couldn't manage to better his time and fell from first to fifth.

Vettel's Australian teammate, the 2010 winner Mark Webber, starts from sixth position on Sunday, while the German drivers Nico Rosberg, former world champion Michael Schumacher and Adrian Sutil will occupy the 7th to 9th starting positions. Mexico's Sergio Perez takes 10th spot.

The Hungarian Grand Prix, one of the most established races in the motor-racing calendar, will be held for the 26th time on Sunday.