German Grand Prix: Nico Rosberg gets the better of Lewis Hamilton to start from pole
Rosberg starts alongside Hamilton in an effort to win back-to-back German Grand Prixs
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Nico Rosberg will start Sunday’s German Grand Prix from pole position after winning the first battle in his Formula 1 championship battle with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who will start alongside him in second.
Rosberg’s final qualifying run was nearly a non-starter though when an electronic glitch forced the 2014 German Grand Prix winner to abandon his first flying lap and head for the pit lane, but thankfully for the hopeful German crowd, the Mercedes team were able to correct the issue that had briefly caused a loss of power and synchronisation in the gearbox.
While Rosberg was experiencing his troubles in the garage, Hamilton took provisional pole, but when the Wiesbaden native emerged from the pit lane with his eyes set on one prize.
"It was a great lap with just the one lap that I had. It was really satisfying," Rosberg said afterwards.
A despondent Hamilton, who rejected claims that a lock-up cost him pole position, said: "It has been a good weekend with no problems. I had the pace today, but I just didn't finish it off on the last lap."
In what was arguably one of his finest qualifying laps of his career, Rosberg delivered to take a second pole position in the space of a week after his somewhat controversial lap at the Hungaroring last weekend. His pole-lap, delivered under double yellow flag conditions, triggered questions from Hamilton as well as other drivers who wanted clarity over what a driver was required to do should a similar situation occur, but there was to be no repeat at Hockenheim as all 22 drivers kept on the track throughout the session.
Having dropped off the calendar last season, Hockenheim is certainly proving a happy hunting ground for Rosberg after he won here two years ago, and he clearly holds an advantage over Hamilton in his homeland having topped all three practice sessions.
After escaping a possible sanction for an unsafe release in third practice after being sent out of the garage right in front of Romain Grosjean, Hamilton had to make do with second place and will be hopeful of a similar launch off the grid as he experienced at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Second will be a lot sweeter than 12th though, given Hamilton was at risk of a third reprimand for the Grosjean incident that would have resulted in a 10-place grid penalty. Instead, the stewards elected to fine Mercedes €10,000 [£8,500] for being at fault.
Daniel Ricciardo won the battle of the Red Bulls to take third, with Max Verstappen confirming that the Austrian outfit have the better of Ferrari once again, with Kimi Raikkonen outpacing home favourite Sebastian Vettel on the third row.
Vettel has looked uncomfortable throughout the weekend, with Raikkonen managing to coax the Ferrari around the Hockenheim track much smoother than his four-time world champion teammate, and with the pressure firmly on Ferrari to deliver after a disappointing year, seeing the two Red Bulls ahead of them will be another bitter pill to swallow.
Force India once again proved to have the pace to rival Williams as Nico Hulkenberg took seventh and Sergio Perez ninth, leaving Valtteri Bottas in a Force India sandwich in eighth and his teammate Felipe Massa rounding out the top 10. However, some four hours after qualifying finished, Hulkenberg was given a one-place grid penalty for using a set of tyres that were meant for third practice, promoting Bottas to seventh.
Jenson Button will have been disappointed not to make the top 10 shootout, but he can at least take solace in out-qualifying his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso with the world champion pairing 12th and 13th respectively, with the Spaniard moving up a position after Carlos Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Massa during Q2.
It means that Jolyon Palmer will move up to 14th once Grosjean also takes a five-place penalty for a gearbox change, and it proved to be a rare good day for the Renault rookie, having pipped his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, to reach Q2.
Final Positions after Qualifying:
1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1min 14.363secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:14.470
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:14.726
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:14.834
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:15.142
6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:15.315
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:15.510 + one-place grid penalty
8 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:15.530
9 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:15.537
10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:15.615
11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 1:15.883
12 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:15.909
13 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:15.989 + three-place penalty
14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:16.041
15 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:16.086 + five place penalty
16 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:16.665
17 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:16.716
18 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 1:16.717
19 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.876
20 Rio Haryanto (Ina) Manor Racing 1:16.977
21 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.123
22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.238
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments