Jolyon Palmer will start from 20th on the grid for Saturday's GP2 Feature Race after the Brit was hampered by heavy traffic during today's closely-fought qualifying session, which saw the top 20 drivers lapping within one second of each other. 

The 20-year-old, competing on the Hungaroring for the first time, was unable to get a clear run on his final stint using fresh tyres, leaving him frustrated at not finishing higher up the field. 

After pitting halfway through the 30-minute qualifying session for a new set of soft Pirelli rubber, the rookie rejoined the 4.381km circuit with more than ten minutes left on the clock.

However, with 26 cars on track, finding a clear run proved very difficult and made worse by an incident involving Jules Bianchi and Julian Leal, as well as spinning drivers such as Adam Carroll whose mistake at Turn 6 brought about waved yellow flags.

Jolyon, who finished as runner-up in the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship, continued to push hard during the final stages but was frustratingly unable to gain ground and setting a best time of 1:31.513s - just 1.102s off pole-sitter Luiz Razia and 0.117s off Pal Varhaug ahead. Although classified 21st, Jolyon gains an additional grid place for tomorrow's race following Davide Valsecchi's penalty carried over from the Nürburgring where contact from Valsecchi denied Jolyon of a top six finish.

Speaking afterwards Jolyon said: "The car felt ok in qualifying and my pace was not too bad, I just didn't manage to get a clean lap in with spinners and traffic around so I will start P20 tomorrow. It's a disappointing result but we will try hard to improve on that tomorrow."

With Razia securing his maiden pole, Luca Filippi claimed second spot with Marcus Ericsson lining up in third.

Tomorrow's (Saturday) 38-lap Feature Race gets underway at 15:40 (local time) with full coverage on Jolyon's official website.

Hungaroring, GP2 qualifying results:

1. L Razia, AirAsia, 1:30.411s
2. L Filippi, Scuderia, +0.140s
3. M Ericsson, iSport, +0.146s
4. C Pic, Addax, +0.331s
5. R Grosjean, DAMS, +0.335s
6. J Bianchi, ART, +0.341s
7. G VD Garde, Addax, +0.349s
8. F Leimer, Rapax, +0.392s
9. E Gutierrez, ART, +0.415s
21. J Palmer, Arden, +1.102s