Mark Webber takes his second consecutive pole position, edging out a surprising challenge from Lewis Hamilton and McLaren.
In the build-up to qualifying, the McLaren team were not expected to challenge for pole position honours following a low-key practice form. But in the all important top-ten shootout, Lewis Hamilton and McLaren turned out to be the biggest threat to Webber and Red Bull.
And yet, the Australian was able to response with an impressive lap time of one minute, 30.079 seconds to maintain Red Bull Racing’s excellent form in qualifying this season.
As for his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, he will start his home race in only third position as Lewis Hamilton drove a ‘wicked lap’ to split the Red Bulls. This is the first time that the championship leader is not on the front row.
Silverstone winner Fernando Alonso had to settle for fourth for Ferrari. This was a disappointment following some promising speed in the practice sessions leading up to qualifying.
Webber looked unbeatable throughout Q3, producing a one minute, 30.251 seconds on his first flying lap and then improving to one minute, 30.079 seconds to put himself out of reach from his rivals.
Hamilton was third after the first runs, was briefly pushed down to fourth place by Alonso, but then blasted to second position with a lap only 0.055 seconds down on Webber.
Vettel’s second attempt was not quick enough to reclaim the outside front row spot, while Alonso was 0.4 seconds off the pole pace as he took fourth, half a second clear of his fifth-placed Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.
Nico Rosberg opted to run a single flying lap to qualify his Mercedes in sixth, ahead of Jenson Button, who was a second away from his McLaren team-mate.
Adrian Sutil reached Q3 for his home Grand Prix and gave Force India eighth position, ahead of Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and national hero Michael Schumacher in the other Silver Arrows.
Nick Heidfeld and Paul di Resta could not match their Renault and Force India team-mates’ progress into Q2 so will share the sixth row, ahead of the Williams duo, with Pastor Maldonado out-qualifying Rubens Barrichello by four tenths of a second.
After three start in P18 – Jaime Alguersuari finally got beyond Q1 again – though he only made it as high as P17, just behind Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastien Buemi. The pair are in between the Saubers, with Sergio Perez in P15 and Kamui Kobayashi being eliminated in Q1.
Karun Chandhok got within 0.823 seconds of Team Lotus team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, though the Indian could not prevent Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock sneaking between the Lotus duo.
Daniel Ricciardo showed highly encouraging pace in his second Grand Prix qualifying session, as he was only 0.025 seconds adrift of Hispania team-mate Tonio Liuzzi on the back row. And he will start ahead of the Italian in any case due to Liuzzi’s gearbox change penalty.
Qualifying times from the Nürburgring:
1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1n30.079s
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1n30.134s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1n30.216s
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1n30.442s
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1n30.910s
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1n31.263s
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1n31.288s
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1n32.010s
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1n32.187s
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1n32.482s
11. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m32.215s
12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m32.560s
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m32.635s
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m33.043s
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.176s
16. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.546s
17. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m33.698s
18. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m33.786s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m35.599s
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.400s
21. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m36.422s
22. Jerome D’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m36.641s
23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m37.036s
24. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m37.011s*
*Five-place penalty for gearbox change.
107 per cent time: 1m38.253s
Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber has admitted he was pushing the RB7 to the limit in order to take his second consecutive pole position at the Nurburgring. Autosport.com has the story.
Mark Webber admitted he was very much on the limit of he could have achieved after securing his second pole in a row in the German Grand Prix.
The Australian, who had also started from pole position in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, secured his third top spot of the year as he continued to show improved form.
The Red Bull driver said his final lap in Q3 could not have been any better.
“My performance has been getting a little bit better in last few races and also this track seems to be not too bad for me in the past,” said Webber.
“I must say this session went pretty well with the exception of first option run in Q2. That wasn’t very smooth, but the other two laps good, and the boys did some great job with the car again.
“There have been some late nights in the build-up to this weekend, so we have recovered well and we got it all figured out at the end there. I was thinking on the in-lap if someone gets me they deserve it because I couldn’t have got much more out of it.
“That was my complete limit, it was a pretty good lap. It’s very satisfying to see that no one grabs you at the end there as it was an anxious wait those last 30 seconds.”
Webber, who beat McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton by 0.055 seconds to achieve pole, is optimistic about his car’s pace for the race.
“We should be good,” he said. “Yesterday worked out okay for us. We always know that Sunday night gives you a better indication, we saw with McLaren they can be a bit up and down. Let’s see who has the smoothest race tomorrow and a few decisions to make from the cockpit if the mountains are a bit wet.”
He added: “It was a good qualifying today and you want to lead one lap tomorrow, which is the last lap. I will be in there pushing really hard.”
Webber is yet to win a race this season.
In the build-up to the German Grand Prix, the pace of McLarens was nothing that special. And yet, come qualifying Lewis Hamilton was able to fight with the Red Bulls and challenge Mark Webber for pole position. Autosport.com has the details.
Lewis Hamilton admits his front-row qualifying performance came as a complete surprise following an unspectacular start to the weekend.
Hamilton had effectively ruled himself out of the qualifying battle after finishing more than one second adrift in both Friday’s practice sessions, but was shocked at just how competitive his McLaren became once on low-fuel qualifying settings.
Asked whether second was a surprise, Lewis said: “It is, absolutely. I definitely underestimated how good car would be when we went to light fuel. The lap was beautiful – it was one of the happiest and comforting laps I have ever had.
“I was sitting in the car before Q3 and I thought I might have to eat my words. It was definitely the best qualifying session I can remember having at least this year. First session was fantastic and the last lap was excellent.
“When I crossed the line it was massively satisfying.”
Hamilton insists his concerns yesterday were genuine, but credited his upturn in performance to McLaren continuing its development push and the return to pre-Silverstone diffuser regulations.
“For us we honestly never thought we would be near the Red Bulls,” he said.
“What was important was that even though we were not fastest we kept trying to dial the car in. We made some changes, and the car felt fantastic.
“A huge congratulations for my team, it was a fantastic effort. Throughout the weekend we have had a constant push to bring updates and improve engine modes, which helped massively.
“At Silverstone we really struggled with the rule changes, cornering stability and that sort of things, so we were on the back foot and there was nothing we could do.
“This weekend, (the rule change) doesn’t look like it has massively affected the Ferrari and Red Bulls, but it has enabled us to get back in the fight.”
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel has said he was not disappointed to start his home race in only third position. Autosport.com has the story.
Sebastian Vettel insisted he was not disappointed to be starting away from the front row for the first time this season on Sunday, after qualifying third for his home grand prix at the Nurburgring. The world champion instead preferred to highlight his team’s strong recovery after revealing he fell into a set-up malaise on Friday.
Vettel qualified less than 0.15s poleman and team-mate Mark Webber at the Nurburgring, having been fastest of all in the morning’s free practice session and said afterwards that he was satisfied with his performance.
“It is not really a disappointment, obviously I would like to be a bit further up, but I think it was a tough session overall,” said Vettel. “I think we had a good recovery yesterday, I didn’t really find my way or find my balance with the car.
“This morning the car felt much better, it was not just one change that we did, we tried many things in free practice so we went back a couple of steps in one way and then changed some small tweaks here and there which made the balance much better.
“This afternoon was a tight session, and there was not much missing. In Q3 I had two solid runs and maybe lost out in the last sector, but all in all Mark [Webber] was very quick and did a good lap today, it would have been very close. I’m happy with third and he is on the clean side of the track, so we’ll see if it is worth an advantage or not.
Vettel added that rain forecast for tomorrow might add another element of uncertainty into the outcome and render his grid position potentially meaningless.
“I think rain is on the way, question is when or where it will hit circuit, we are in much better shape than yesterday also regarding race pace and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow,” he said. “It will be a long race, and with the weather here you never know.
“In the end it doesn’t really matter, what is important is that we have a solid race, target is to win, which is not impossible from third.
“I’m on the clean side of track, we go forward from there, not often you have people coming here supporting the German drivers so I will make sure I enjoy the race tomorrow.”
Vettel also emphasised his determination to perform in front of his home crowd and that he wouldn’t just settle for a points finish.
“I don’t race and think about the championship all the time, it is important to finish the race tomorrow but first of all I am going to enjoy it. It’s not often you have so much support, and it’s nice to see the grandstands with people waving national flags. That was very nice. I will enjoy that more than anything else tomorrow whatever the result might be.”
Asked whether he would maintain his position if he received any team orders Vettel replied: “I think it always depends on the situation, but if it is in a similar matter to Silverstone if there is nothing to gain and the leader is very far ahead there is no point to try anything silly.”
Karun Chandhok was happy with his performance in qualifying for the German Grand Prix after finishing less than a second behind team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.
The Lotus driver, making his racing return this weekend as he replaces Jarno Trulli, qualified in 21st position, two places behind Kovalainen.
After finishing 0.8 seconds behind the Finn, Chandhok said he had achieved his target for the day.
“I’ve got to say I’m pleased with how qualifying went today,” said the Indian. “Tony had said to me that if I could get within a second of Heikki he’d be proud, and I finished about 0.8 seconds off him so that’s a goal achieved.
“One of the challenges today has been finding out how much grip there is on the soft tyres on low fuel and that was always going to be a pretty steep learning curve in quali, but my times have been coming down all weekend so I’m getting there.
“As I’ve been saying, the last couple of days have been about learning the car, the tyres and how to get the best out of the DRS system, so to get as close as I reasonably could expect to my team-mate is pretty good progress.”
Kovalainen was also satisfied with his showing, even if the Finn was nearly two seconds off the pace of his closest rival.
“I’m relatively pleased with the performance today but I think there was still more to come from the car,” he said. “On the second run I was still struggling to get the front tyres working and I maybe pushed a bit more than I should so couldn’t improve on my first run.
“That run had gone well and I was able to get a decent time in so all in all not too bad.”
Source: Autosport.com
Mercedes GP driver Michael Schumacher was not pleased by the team’s performance in qualifying. Autosport.com has the story.
Michael Schumacher said Mercedes failed to meet its expectations during qualifying for the German Grand Prix on Saturday.
The seven-time champion will start the race from 10th position after a difficult day during which the German did not feel comfortable with the handling of his car.
Schumacher finished over a second behind team-mate Nico Rosberg, and conceded he was mystified by the gap.
“We did not perform to expectations this afternoon and already this morning the car was not the one I had in my hands up to the first run in P3,” said Schumacher. “It felt like I was just sliding around out there and the balance wasn’t great.
“We had a KERS problem this morning, which we thought explained the big gap to Nico, however in qualifying I was still nearly a second away and couldn’t have matched his time, so we have to analyse deeply what could be the reason for it.
“Obviously then, I tried to push even harder to compensate, which lead to a mistake in the last chicane on my last lap, probably costing me P8. We now have to see how we can improve for tomorrow, and I will certainly try to have a good start and a race as good as possible.”
Rosberg, on the other hand, was happy with sixth place and was left optimistic of enjoying a strong race on Sunday.
“Sixth place is a good place to start tomorrow, and whether the conditions are wet or dry, I think we can have a good race from there,” he said. “I’m happy with the set-up work that we have achieved this weekend and that the new parts are working which is really satisfying.
“We can see that we are going in the right direction. It should be an exciting race tomorrow and hopefully I can make up a couple of positions in front of all the German supporters.”
Sergio Perez says his 15th position in qualifying ‘almost maximised’ the potential of his Sauber.
The team suffered a disappointing qualifying as Kamui Kobayashi was relegated in Q1 and Perez could only make limited progress in Q2.
Perez insists his best lap was pretty much on the limit of what could be achieved, as both drivers struggle with a perceived general lack of pace.
“Obviously our overall performance isn’t good here and I think we almost maximized what was possible in qualifying under the circumstances,” Perez declared.
“My fastest lap was okay; there is nothing to complain about. I locked a wheel once but this wasn’t the main problem. Perhaps the lap time could have been better by one or two tenths but for sure no more.”
Kobayashi meanwhile was plagued by traffic in Q1, but conceded his team was struggling with its general performance.
“Of course it is disappointing to be out in Q1,” he said. “My fastest lap wasn’t perfect. I had some traffic in front and behind, but it is also the case that we have a general lack of pace here.
“The only positive thing is that I have now two fresh sets of the soft tyres left for the race. I will do my very best to recover from where I have to start.”
Technical Director James Key admitted the qualifying struggles could force the team to change its race approach, saying: “This was a poor qualifying session and we have to think carefully about our approach to the race to make the best of it.”
Source: Autosport.com
McLaren’s Jenson Button blames the lack of grip in qualifying which resulted in only the seventh quickest time. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button admitted to being mystified by his lack of pace in qualifying for the German Grand Prix after the McLaren driver slumped to seventh on the grid – 1.1s off team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s pace.
Button, who was fifth fastest in final practice on Saturday morning having more-or-less matched Hamilton for pace, struggled for purchase on the cold track surface during the qualifying session and was not a factor in Q3.
“I couldn’t find any grip out there, I was really struggling,” he said. “This morning the car felt good, but this afternoon…
“I had too much front end on the way into the corners so we took some front wing out and that basically gave me understeer but didn’t help the rear of the car.
“It’s very strange that we can’t find the grip out there so to be down in seventh is very surprising. Also to be something like 1.1s behind Lewis is surprising, so something is not quite right.
“It was pretty terrible. I just didn’t have any pace on either tyre, I struggled on both the hard and the soft tyre and I don’t really know where the pace has gone from this morning. We were pretty good this morning and we were always pretty much at the top of the time sheets so it’s a bit surprising that I don’t know where that time is.”
Asked if he was hoping for rain for the race on Sunday, Button replied: “We need to do something because the pace isn’t there and the frustrating thing is that it was this morning. The car felt good and I don’t know where it’s gone.
“The weather has got to do something, I’m 1.1s behind my team-mate so there is something big going on there. I don’t whether we are just outside the operating window for the tyres but something isn’t working properly.”
Rubens Barrichello admitted he expected a difficult qualifying in Germany after not using his KERS during the session.
The Brazilian qualified in 14th position after his Williams team decided not to run KERS in his car in order to gather data for comparison.
Barrichello was using a new diffuser and new front wing.
“We knew we might struggle on my car as we weren’t able to use KERS here,” said Barrichello. “We didn’t have an ideal balance on the car, particularly compared to the morning, and it wasn’t possible to get on top of that during the session.
“We need to analyse that in detail, and look for better pace in the race tomorrow.”
Team-mate Pastor Maldonado also struggled during qualifying and conceded he was expecting a stronger session after posting the 13th fastest time.
“It was a difficult session for us,” he said. “We were looking more competitive than this yesterday, but not enough to be in Q3.
“We were working more on race pace so we will see tomorrow. I think we have the possibility to score some points if we have the right strategy.”
Source: Autosport.com
Force India driver Adrian Sutil was delighted with his qualifying result. The German will start his home race in eighth position and ahead of team-mate Paul di Resta.
Adrian Sutil was delighted with a qualifying performance which saw him seal eighth on the grid and beat team-mate Paul di Resta for only the third time this season.
Sutil, who has qualified inside the top ten on only one other occasion thus far this season, hailed his confidence in the car and the circuit as registered ‘pretty much perfect’ laps in Q2 and Q3.
“Another strong strong qualifying performance for us and it’s great to be starting my home race from P8,” Sutil enthused.
“My laps in Q2 and Q3 were pretty much perfect and I feel I got the maximum from the car. I feel confident in the car and I really like this circuit.
“I’m excited about the race tomorrow and really looking forward to it…we just have to wait and see what happens with the weather.”
Sutil’s team-mate di Resta ended qualifying in 12th position, with the Scot conceding that overnight changes may have caused him to lose ground.
Di Resta did however reveal that his set-up had a race-orientated bias – something he hopes may help his cause tomorrow.
“I seem to have lost some ground to Adrian compared to yesterday so perhaps one of the directions we took overnight hasn’t quite worked out,” he explained.
“I couldn’t really get the tyres to work when it mattered and I was struggling with a lack of grip in both Q1 and Q2. We need to analyse that and hopefully try and improve for tomorrow.
“I still hope we can fight for points because our long run pace has looked quite strong. Also my set-up is more race-orientated, which will hopefully play into our hands.”
After setting the initial pace in practice, Fernando Alonso was not surprised by the result in qualifying. The Ferrari driver will start the German Grand Prix in fourth position. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso says he was not surprised not to be able to fight for pole position at the German Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver, the winner of the previous race in Britain, qualified down in fourth position, nearly four tenths of a second behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Despite not being able to fight for a place on the front row, Alonso said he was happy with his performance.
“We are neither surprised nor disappointed, quite the contrary in fact,” said Alonso. “This grid is more or less what we could have expected, from what we had seen in free practice yesterday.
“We thought the Red Bulls would be three or four tenths faster than us and that was the case and then even Hamilton went very well, especially in the first sector and got in between us. In fact, McLaren had so many new parts here and you could see they were working well.
“I am happy with my lap and with the result and anyway, this year we have seen that we have always gone better in the race than in qualifying.”
The Spaniard is still hopeful he will get a chance to win tomorrow’s race, but admitted Ferrari needs another step forward in order to match the pace of its rivals.
“Maybe tomorrow the situation could turn around, you never know. I am still aiming for the podium, but if the chance of a win comes along I won’t need to be asked twice. Also at this track, we have seen the updates we have introduced helping to improve our performance, race after race.
“Clearly, we must take a further step forward if we want to be up there with the best.”
Team-mate Felipe Massa qualified in fifth – albeit around half a second off Alonso’s pace – and the Brazilian admitted he was not entirety happy with his day, especially after finishing behind Lewis Hamilton.
“I can’t claim to be completely happy with this qualifying, because some cars were faster than ours,” he said. “That might not be surprising in the case of the Red Bulls, but it definitely is the case with Hamilton’s McLaren.
“Tomorrow, we will aim to make our usual step forward in the race, but we know it won’t be easy. Sure, if it had been ten degrees warmer, I would not have complained! Especially with the Medium tyre, we struggled a bit and that’s why I used my first set of Softs right from Q1.”
Sebastien Buemi has been excluded from qualifying for the German Grand Prix after the FIA discovered an irregularity with the fuel in his Scuderia Toro Rosso car.
The Swiss driver had qualified in 16th place on the grid at the Nurburgring, just ahead of his team-mate Jaime Alguersuari.
However, in post-qualifying inspections, the FIA found that the fuel in his car did not comply with the regulations.
A statement issued by the FIA said: “The stewards, having received a report from the FIA Technical Delegate that the fuel sample taken after Qualifying from Car 18 showed an increase in one given GC (gas chromatography) Peak Area of an absolute amount greater than 0.1 per cent for the component present at a concentration below 0.8 per cent, and having heard from the FIA Formula One Analytical Chemist and the Team Representatives and examined the fuel test graphs, determine this to be a breach of Article 19.8.3 of the 2011 FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and decide to impose a penalty of exclusion of Car 18 from the results of Qualifying.”
Article 19.8.3 of the F1 Technical Regulations relates to whether or not the fuel complies with the reference fuel that has to be submitted ahead of the weekend.
It states: “GC peak areas of the sample will be compared with those obtained from the reference fuel. Increases in any given peak area (relative to its adjacent peak areas) which are greater than 12 per cent, or an absolute amount greater than 0.1 per cent for compounds present at concentrations below 0.8 per cent, will be deemed not to comply.
“If a peak is detected in a fuel sample that was absent in the corresponding reference fuel, and its peak area represents more than 0.10 per cent of the summed peak areas of the fuel, the fuel will be deemed not to comply.
“If the deviations observed (above) by GC indicate that they are due to mixing with another Formula One fuel, which has been approved by the FIA for use by the team, the fuel sample will be deemed to comply, provided that the adulterant fuel is present at no more than 10 per cent in the sample.”
Although Buemi has been excluded from qualifying, he will still be allowed to start from the back of the grid.
The team said the issue was triggered by a fuel pressure problem.
“During Friday’s FP1, Buemi’s car had a fuel pressure problem, which then got worse at the start of FP2 which is why he did not do a timed lap in that session,” Toro Rosso said in a statement on Saturday evening.
“After FP2 the entire fuel system on his car was changed. When the fuel sample was taken from his car after qualifying, it did not match the one provided to the FIA prior to the start of the season.
“The team believes that some part of the new fuel system contained a chemical that contaminated the fuel and caused the non-conformity.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite taking two victories this season courtesy of Lewis Hamilton in China and Jenson Button at Canada, the McLaren-Mercedes team is under pressure against the success of rival Red Bull Racing. Team boss Martin Whitmarsh has said the team will not give up hopes in the championship just yet. Autosport.com has the full story.
Martin Whitmarsh says he never wavered from his belief that McLaren would bounce back from its recent troubles – as he said his outfit kept its belief that the world championship can still be won.
McLaren had difficult outings in Valencia and Silverstone, and it appeared that it was going to endure similar frustrations in Germany with a far from encouraging Friday practice at the Nurburgring.
However, Lewis Hamilton delivered what he thought was his best qualifying performance of the year to get McLaren back on the front row for the first time since the Monaco Grand Prix – and has set his sights on victory on Sunday.
With Whitmarsh’s own future having been the subject of speculation since the recent downturn in form, he made it clear on Saturday that he never gave up hope about a fight back.
“I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it in truth,” he said about the speculation regarding his future at the outfit. “I’ve been around this team for quite a while and we’ve had periods of great success and periods where by our own high standards if we’re not winning, that’s disappointing for all of us.
“I focus on those things; focus on how we are going to go forward. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about things written in the paper like that. It’s much more productive thinking about how you are going to be stronger, how you are going to be better as a team.
“We’ve a long way to go, and we’re not perfect by a long way. We strive to be better, and that’s in everything. The three of us [himself, Button and Hamilton] can do a better job; the team can do a better job, everyone in our organisation.
“All I can ask everyone is we focus and work hard. The difference is that in performance between ourselves and RBR this year, they have been small – six hundredths of a second today. That means it is doable, it is achievable.”
He added: “Mathematically this championship is still possible. I have said previous that the right thing to do is let’s concentrate on winning races and build our performance, and if that heads us in the right direction then great.”
Hamilton said his performance in Germany had reminded him just why he relished racing in F1.
“Today for me is a great reminder of why I love doing what I do. That lap today, it’s not very often you get to do those things. It’s not always we have the car to be able to put laps like that together.
“It’s important to cherish those moments because I can’t remember coming across the line, in a qualifying session, feeling so ecstatic, so energised. I didn’t realise it meant that much to me, but you are pleasantly surprised each time.
“But our pace, and what we were able to do, again reminds me of how strong a team I have, how they never give up, and how we can do it, which we’ve been telling lots of people for a long time.
“It just takes time for us to be able to do that.”