Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim by a margin of two thousands of a second from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Alonso had looked the favourite for top honours, as he was the fastest in both Q1 and Q2. He was still out in front in the early part of Q3 with Vettel only 0.034 seconds adrift.
On the final qualifying runs Vettel found a further couple of tenths and set a lap time around the 2.842-mile circuit with one minute, 13.791 seconds to displace the Spaniard from pole. The double world champion looked set to beat his rival’s time but fell short by the smallest of margin in the last sector.
Despite the setback, Alonso should be satisfied by the improved pace in the F10 and with team-mate Felipe Massa starting in third, Ferrari is beginning to regain lost performance when compared to Red Bull Racing and McLaren.
British Grand Prix winner Mark Webber lines up in fourth after making a mistake on his final qualifying run – running wide at Nordkurve (Turn 1).
As for the McLarens, Jenson Button outqualified his team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.06 seconds to take fifth. The British pair will form row three on the Hockenheim grid.
Robert Kubica will start the German Grand Prix in seventh ahead of Rubens Barrichello – who is proudly wearing a T-shirt saying he is faster than The Stig off Top Gear!
The two Nicos of Hulkenberg and Rosberg will line up in ninth and tenth respectively.
For Michael Schumacher, competing in Mercedes GP’s home race and in front of his passionate fans, the seven-time world champion could only manage P11. Schumacher would have taken part in the top-ten shootout, but was knocked out in the final moments of Q2 by Willi Weber’s protégé Hulkenberg.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was another driver to miss out in going through to Q3, as the Japanese held a top ten place for most of Q2 before a mistake on his final run meant he was shuffled back to P12, still only 0.066 seconds from the top ten.
Force India had a very tough qualifying session. Adrian Sutil will take a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following a practice failure but could only manage P14 nevertheless, while Vitantonio Liuzzi caused a seven-minute stoppage when he spun out of Sudkurve in Q1 and smashed into the pit wall, leaving him P22 on the grid. He was unhurt, although his Force India was heavily damaged – and Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock was lucky to avoid a flying wheel detached in the crash.
Lotus had another one-two in the battle of the new Formula One teams competing this season, with Jarno Trulli ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, but Glock had been ahead of them until his Virgin had a mechanical problem. His team-mate Lucas di Grassi fared worst of all, unable to run in qualifying at all due to gearbox problems.
Qualifying times from Hockenheim:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:13.791
2. Alonso Ferrari 1:13.793
3. Massa Ferrari 1:14.290
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:14.347
5. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.427
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.566
7. Kubica Renault 1:15.079
8. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:15.109
9. Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.179
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:15.339
11. Schumacher Mercedes 1:15.026
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.084
13. Petrov Renault 1:15.307
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:15.467
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.550
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.588
17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.974
18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:17.583
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.300
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.343
21. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:18.592
22. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:18.952
23. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:19.844
24. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth no time
Sebastian Vettel said he was relieved to deny Fernando Alonso pole at Hockenheim – and amazed by the tiny 0.002-second margin.
Alonso had been quickest in Q1, Q2 and the first runs in Q3, before Vettel managed to slip ahead at the end and claim pole for his home grand prix.
“It will be interesting to work out how much [distance] two thousandths of a second is,” Vettel mused. “All session Fernando was very strong and Ferrari are generally very competitive.
“It was very exciting and in Q2 I knew we had one lap to get it right. It was close and you push a little bit more and you lose the edge of the tyres and then feel you are losing time. My last run wasn’t 100 per cent perfect, I had a bit here or there where I went above the limit but in the end it was enough by nearly nothing to stay ahead and get on pole.
“I am extremely happy, first time on pole at home but the main challenge will come tomorrow – we have a very strong car here and a tough fight against the red cars.”
Vettel has now taken pole for three straight races, but at Silverstone a fortnight ago he was unable to hold the lead off the line. However he is more confident about his prospects of getting into the first corner ahead in Germany.
“I think unlike Silverstone the clear side [of the track] is worth a bit,” he said. “Fernando and myself in the last race were surprised by the bad grip on the clean side. Here it should be good for us.
“We have a very strong car, it is very close to the Ferraris, Usually we have a decent pace in the race – it is a long race, everything is possible.
“We start from the best position after a good job today but tomorrow is the target. Today there is no real reward other than going to sleep with a good feeling.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite missing out on scoring his first pole position of the 2010 season, Fernando Alonso was quite surprised that he was able to match the faster Red Bull during qualifying for the German Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
A surprised Fernando Alonso said Ferrari had reason to be happy about its performance despite missing out on pole position for the German Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was beaten by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by just 0.002 seconds, the German denying the Maranello squad its first pole since the 2008 season.
Alonso was nonetheless delighted with the result, which he admits was a step forward for the Italian outfit.
“I think we have to be happy,” said Alonso, who hadn’t started from the front row since last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. “We are in the first row for the first time this season so that is definitely a step forward for us.
“We have been competitive all weekend, I’m very confident with the car. I was very happy with the car in Q1, Q2 and Q3.
“Finally we made a perfect Saturday. Obviously we lost pole position by a small margin, but the points are tomorrow not Saturday so we need to stay focused for tomorrow.
“The target is a good day tomorrow after a good day today. We’ll try to score good points tomorrow.”
The two-time champion said he was not expecting to be so close to Red Bull in Q3, the Milton Keynes team having dominated qualifying this season.
“No, not really,” said Alonso. “We always expect the Red Bulls in Q3 to give something more. We saw this is very close in free practice but then in Q3 they are far away.
“We were surprised to be that close and finally fighting for a pole position after 10 races. It took a bit longer but now we are very close.”
Team-mate Felipe Massa completed Ferrari’s strongest qualifying of the year with third position.
“I think it was a good performance from us,” said Massa. “It was a very tough qualifying. In Q3 I could not put all the sectors together.
“I am happy to be back in Q3 and more focused for the race tomorrow. I hope we can do a good job and score many points for the team and myself.”
As for Mark Webber, winner of the British Grand Prix, the Australian was annoyed to take fourth on the grid following a mistake on his final Q3 run. Autosport.com has the story as shown below:
Mark Webber was left lamenting a driving error after a disappointing qualifying ahead of the German Grand Prix.
The Australian qualified in fourth position, nearly half a second behind Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who secured pole position again.
Webber will start from behind the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
“I got a little bit wide on the entry to Turn 1 – stuck the front of the car out and I couldn’t get back into the line,” Webber told the BBC.
“My fault, and it wasn’t good enough.
“Lost a position on the final laps, obviously I was third and then lost a position to Felipe [Massa], so that was a shame. Not the best qualifying so I look to the race tomorrow.”
Webber, winner of the previous race at Silverstone, said he was not surprised by how close the battle for pole was, with Vettel beating Alonso by just 0.002 seconds.
“Not really, I knew it was going to be tight with the short lap. It would have been nice to be amongst it, but Seb [Vettel] did a good job for pole so still a good day for the team.”
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton has said that his McLaren MP4-25 was simply not fast enough when compared to the Red Bulls and the Ferraris. He will start the German Grand Prix in sixth with his team-mate Jenson Button just one place ahead. Autosport.com has the details.
Lewis Hamilton said his McLaren team is simply not quick enough after having to settle for a place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s German GP.
“It’s what I’ve been telling you for a long, long time and no one believed it: We are the third team at the moment and just not fast enough,” said Hamilton, who will start from sixth position after finishing nearly a second behind pole-setter Sebastian Vettel.
“But we keep pushing and we do the best job we can,” added the championship leader.
Hamilton said he was not surprised by the pace of the cars in front of him.
“No. I never expect to be sixth, for sure, but I’ve been saying for a long time that generally we are the third fastest team and today the two teams in front did a better job,” he said.
“And my lap wasn’t fantastic, but that’s the way it is.
“My qualifying pace was quite poor, to be honest. I don’t think it was great, but I did the best job I could.”
The McLaren driver is now hoping to benefit from his car’s better race pace to score good points tomorrow.
“I’m going to keep pushing. Tomorrow we need a good start, a clean first lap, and I’ll try to score many points tomorrow.”
Hamilton qualified behind team-mate Jenson Button, fifth today.
McLaren team-mate Jenson Button admits he is quite concerned about the performance gap to the Red Bulls and Ferraris following qualifying at Hockenheim. Autosport.com has the full story:
Jenson Button admitted he was concerned by the gap to the front of the field after qualifying fifth at Hockenheim.
The world champion outqualified his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but was only fifth – and 0.7 seconds down on front row pair Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari).
“I don’t know where seven tenths is. That’s the worry I have,” said Button. “For me it was a good lap and I don’t think there was anything else I could’ve got out of the car. To be seven tenths behind is a little frustrating.”
He is certain that McLaren has made gains in recent rounds, but it has still been leapfrogged by Ferrari and lost a little ground to Red Bull.
“We’ve definitely made a step forward,” he said. “The car feels good around here. It’s just not enough in qualifying spec. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll see some more performance in the car.”
Button had no complaints about the newly-introduced blown diffuser.
“I think it’s working well, it’s just not enough compared to the Red Bulls,” he said. “We’ve definitely made a step forward for this race, but it’s still a big gap.”
He still hopes to make progress towards the front in race trim.
“It’s a pretty fun circuit here to race on, and the first lap’s always pretty hectic, so we can have a great race,” he said.
But he added that while he was perturbed by his car’s deficit to its main rivals, he did take some satisfaction from improving his personal qualifying performance after trailing Hamilton by several places in recent rounds.
“It’s the best lap I’ve done for a couple of races,” said Button. “I needed to do a reasonable job in qualifying this time – and I have.”
As for Michael Schumacher, representing Mercedes GP home appearance in front of the passionate German crowds this weekend, the seven-time world champion has said that P11 was the best he could do in the MGP W01. Autosport.com has the details
Michael Schumacher said there was no more to extract from his car after a disappointing qualifying for his home race.
The seven-time champion was knocked out in Q2 and will have to start the German Grand Prix from 11th position, despite having said on Friday that he was aiming for a top five.
The Mercedes driver had to admit on Saturday there simply wasn’t more performance in the car.
“There isn’t much more to say about qualifying other than the result was what was achievable for us today,” said Schumacher.
“Clearly it was disappointing because we had expected to be able to fight for fifth or sixth place but from the difference between our two cars, you can see our results are what the potential was.
“If I want to find something positive, it is that at least I will be starting from the better side of the grid and in the end, I prefer 11th to 10th place because of that. I had some issues with my brakes during qualifying but I do not rate that a real factor for the performance today.
“We are a bit stronger in race pace than in qualifying but we clearly wanted to achieve more for our fans. Let’s hope that tomorrow the race will develop in a way that we can still show them something.”
Team-mate Nico Rosberg was equally disappointed despite making it to Q3, the German finishing in ninth.
“I was hoping for a strong weekend here in Hockenheim in front of our fans but unfortunately I struggled a lot in qualifying today,” he said. “It’s really disappointing and it seems that we are just not making our developments work as well as we hoped this weekend which we need to look into.
“I hope that we find the problem with the car otherwise it is difficult to explain why we are not closer to the front. I had a lot of oversteer and that made it really difficult as I had to keep coming down on the front wing levels which did not help. I will do my best tomorrow to achieve a good result but it will be difficult from this position.”
Mark Webber says it is no surprise that Ferrari has proved so strong at the German Grand Prix – as he also refused to write off McLaren’s hopes of beating Red Bull Racing at Hockenheim.
The Australian’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel took pole position by just two thousandths of a second from the rejuvenated Ferrari team, as Fernando Alonso eyes grabbing a crucial haul of points to help boost his title challenge.
And with Ferrari now appearing to have got its season back on track in pace terms, Webber has admitted that he predicted before this weekend that Ferrari would start being a thorn in Red Bull Racing’s side.
When asked if he was surprised Ferrari was so close to Red Bull Racing, Webber said: “Not really. They were very, very quick at Silverstone to be honest, but they had a poor first lap. And we are predicting they will be strong next week.
“I went to my pub during the week and a guy there said to me, do you have any tips on who I should put the money on because all the guys, their odds are very short? I said put some money on Alonso to win Budapest. But maybe I am wrong and he will win tomorrow.”
The Australian also refused to rule out McLaren, despite the team having to settle for a place on the third row in spite of having continued to run with its blown diffuser.
“McLaren are not struggling, it is just that it is very competitive at the front now,” he said. “It was inevitable it is going to happen and this type of track, this type of layout, is a s short lap.
“A blown diffuser is not going to win or lose a championship. There are so many more things on top of that. A blown diffuser is peanuts in the grand scheme of things.”
When asked if he was relieved the McLaren updates had not worked as expected, he said: “Let’s see tomorrow night. I am not going to sit here and say people are uncompetitive before the race.”
Webber, who will start the race from fourth position, admitted he had lost at least a place because of a mistake during Q3.
“Today I lost my last run so that was a mistake from my side. It was a pretty tight qualy up until then, and I would have liked to have had my last attempt as that is when you need to do it but I got Turn 1 wrong and I paid the price to have a chance to go for the front row but I definitely lost third place obviously.
“First time I have been off the front row for a long time but looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Source: Autosport.com
Virgin Racing’s driver Timo Glock has been handed a ten-place grid penalty following a change to the gearbox to his Virgin Racing car. Autosport.com has the details:
Timo Glock has been handed a ten-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix after his team fitted a new gearbox to his car before qualifying.
The German had qualified 20th for his home race but his team had been forced to change the gearbox after the final free practice session.
That change alone meant that Glock would start from the back of the grid, but his Virgin Racing team also fitted a different seventh gear ratio from the one declared on Friday – which means he will get an additional five-place penalty.
Glock’s team-mate Lucas di Grassi is also set to be handed a penalty for a gearbox change that will be required tonight after problems he encountered in qualifying.
The FIA stewards also gave Mark Webber a reprimand after qualifying for exceeding the maximum permitted time between the two safety car lines on his qualifying lap that he had aborted following his first corner error.
“It was to do with my in-lap, after I made a mistake,” said the Australian. “I was a little bit too slow between the two sector lines because I was letting people through as I didn’t want to destroy anyone’s laps.”
Jenson Button hopes that the low-downforce strategy that McLaren has adopted for the German Grand Prix will help the team deliver a strong result in Sunday’s race.
Although the Woking-based team failed to match the pace of Red Bull Racing and Ferrari in qualifying at Hockenheim, Button thinks the straight-line speed advantage the team should have on Sunday can still help it come out on top.
“We can still have a very good race,” said Button. “If you have looked at the speed traps you will notice that we are quite a bit quicker than the two teams in front of us.
“Maybe that isn’t a positive thing in qualifying but in the race I think it could help us as long as we can look after the tyres which tomorrow might be an issue if it is hot weather.
“We can really use our speed advantage, so I think we can have a good race tomorrow. The first lap will be quite important to stay out of trouble, but also to move forward. And then it is down to strategy and putting in some good laps.”
He added: “I think we have got the best out of the downforce level that we run, but is it the right downforce level? I don’t know. We will see tomorrow in the race.
“For us this was a tricky race for us to choose what downforce level to run – do we go high downforce with more drag or run what we did run? I think we’ve chosen the best option that we have.”
Button’s high hopes on the strategy the team has chosen are born out by the speed trap figures, which show McLaren comfortably faster that its main title rivals:
BUTTON 317.5 km/h
HAMILTON 316.7 km/h
VETTEL 311.9 km/h
ALONSO 308.5 km/h
WEBBER 308.5 km/h
MASSA 308.3 km/h
Button was also happy that he had delivered a step forward in his qualifying form, having admitted in the build-up to the weekend that it was an area he was struggling before.
“I was reasonably happy with the lap – with what I achieved, how the car felt and how I drove the lap. But I thought I would be closer to the front when I crossed the finish line though. I didn’t think I would be seven tenths behind pole position.
Button was also confident that the blown diffuser the team was racing for the first time had helped it on the performance front.
“To me where it is supposed to work it does work,” he said. “I am getting a benefit from it so it is definitely an improvement, and we were right to keep it on the car.
“We are always looking for more improvements. This is an area where we can still improve, but for us it is a good step forward and for me it feels better than we had at Silverstone. It is just a surprise to see such a big time difference to the two teams in front of us.”
Source: Autosport.com
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has admitted that the pressure is mounting on his team to start delivering better performance on race day, after securing yet another pole position in the German Grand Prix.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit has taken 10 top grid slots this season – a feat which now cannot be matched by any other team this year – but it still finds itself behind McLaren in the world championship standings.
Horner is well aware that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber need to start bringing home more points – especially with the season now entering its second half.
“I think we are now approaching the business end of the championship, and it is important we convert strong qualifying into points on a Sunday,” Horner told AUTOSPORT.
“At this point we have won 50 per cent of the races which, under any circumstances, is a very healthy start to the year. But the McLaren drivers have done an excellent job in achieving consistent race finishes – that is why we have won more races and that is why they are ahead in the points.
“Here, it is important that we convert the qualifying into good points. It sets up a fascinating race and one that will be far from straightforward.”
Horner said that Vettel’s pole position – the second closest in the history of F1 – meant so much simply because of how hard-fought it had been.
“It was so tight. It was so close. Ferrari looked strong on Friday, and Fernando Alonso particularly. He seemed to have us covered in the first two qualifying sessions and I said on the pit wall that it was going to take something special to pull this one off today because I think we were about two and a half tenths down in Q2.
“Seb pulled out an unbelievable final sector of the last lap to take the pole position by the smallest of margins. It was unfortunate that Mark [Webber] got hooked up on the kerb on the way in to Turn 1, and that he did not get a clean run on his last run, because I think we could have had both cars up there today.
“But it was a fantastic result for the team and Sebastian at his home grand prix. It sets up a really interesting race.”
With Ferrari having matched its best qualifying result of the season, Horner said the title fight dynamics had changed – and that the Maranello outfit had to be treated with full respect.
“As we have seen, different circuits seem to flatter and expose different strengths and weaknesses in each of the front running packages,” he said. “The consistent thing we have managed to do is achieve 10 pole positions out of 11 races so far, which is a phenomenal record over a single lap.
“But Ferrari have looked strong, they have looked like our closest challenger in pace in the last two races, and they have just had a lot of bad luck. They have demonstrated a very strong team performance this weekend and I am sure we will have our hands full keeping them behind us, but that is what we will be aiming to do.”
He added: “I have been saying all year that you must not underestimate Ferrari. They are a team with such a track record in F1 – and a strong driver line-up – that you would be a fool to discount them.”
In-depth interview with Christian Horner can be read via this Autosport.com link: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85527