Rosberg takes pole for German GP

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg has won the pole for the German GP at Hockenheim in his Mercedes ahead of three other Mercedes powered cars giving the superior Mercedes power plants a 1-2-3-4 start on Sunday.

Starting second will be Bottas followed by Massa and Magnussen.

Rosberg's teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed out in Q1 trying too hard. He claimed it was brake failure.

Nico Rosberg has lived all his life in Monaco and he won the pole for his home race back in May. He is a German citizen and was born in Germany, however, and he also won the pole for his other home Grand Prix of Germany. Now he's out to win the race.

Final Q3 qualifying saw Perez first out for the 12-minute shootout. He clocked a slow 1:19.395.

Rosberg then came around and posted a 1:16.540.

Next it was the Williams boys: Bottas grabbed second with a 1:17.057 and Massa third with a 1:17.306.

Ricciardo got fourth but Magnussen took it away from him in the final moments using the extra 130 HP the Mercedes engine afford him.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Vettel snatched fourth place. Magnussen was fifth and Ricciardo sixth. Alonso Kvyat, Hulkenberg and Perez rounded out the top 10

The drivers headed for the pits to prepare for one final run.

With less than 3 minutes remaining in the session, it was time to go for broke. Perez moved up to sixth.

In the final moments, Ricciardo took third but lost it to Massa. Then Magnussen took fourth.

Rosberg was out there too but even he could not beat his time of 1:16.540.

More to follow…..

QUOTES

Nico Rosberg
That was a quite challenging Qualifying session. The option tire lasts only for one quick lap and without FRIC we had a lot do adjust the set-up. I had a difficult start because I didn't really feel comfortable with the balance in the braking zones but that gradually improved through the sessions. The quickest lap at the end was really a good one. So I'm really happy to start from the top position here at our home Grand Prix. But I can't be too pleased about today because of the accident Lewis suffered, I'm glad he is fine. I would have preferred to have the normal fight for the pole with him. But I'm sure he will fly through the field as our car is still the quickest out there. So our German fans will see an exciting race tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton
The car was feeling great today. I braked in the same place as I have been doing and I suddenly lost brake pressure – it took me by surprise and the failure spun the car into the wall. It wasn't a great feeling when that happened, you just have to take your hands off the wheel and brace for the impact, but thankfully I'm okay. My legs are a little bruised but I will be fine to race tomorrow; nothing is going to stop me getting in that car. I'm devastated for the guys because they worked so hard during the evening and late last night – I even got an email from my engineers at 01:00 and we were making changes to the set-up to get it just right, which paid off because the balance felt fantastic out there. Then we didn't even get to do five laps. I'm not sure where we'll start tomorrow in the race because that will depend on the damage to the car. But we'll give it everything, hope for a slice of luck and aim for a recovery like I made at Silverstone. It's definitely going to be a tough afternoon but I won't be giving up.

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