Pole position for Lewis Hamilton in German Grand Prix
The frantic final seconds of qualifying for the German Grand Prix looked Lewis Hamilton move ahead of the timesheets with a best lap of 1:15.565s and snatched the pole position away from Ferrari rival Felipe Massa.
Throughout much of practice at Hockenheim, Hamilton and Massa have traded best times at the head of the timesheets and once again this afternoon it was Massa who lost out to the McLaren Mercedes driver in the very final seconds.
With Hamilton, Massa and Kimi Raikkonen all tied at the head of the championship with 48 points, Hamilton’s 9 career pole position can prove critical heading into Sunday’s 67-lap Grand Prix.
Heikki Kovalainen, fastest in the morning practice session, set the 3 fastest time. The Finn was clearly on the absolute limit as his first qualifying run saw him run wide and through the gravel trap on entry into the stadium, while his final push to move up from 10h position saw him run wide exiting the final turn, kicking up dust and dirt as he still managed to improve to 3 position.
Perhaps the star of qualifying was Jarno Trulli who set the 4 fastest time for Toyota. With his friend Timo Glock starting eleventh, it was another great effort from the Italian
veteran, something of a qualifying specialist.
A good run from Fernando Alonso saw the Renault driver qualify in 5 position on a day when he hadn't really expected to shine as he looked to find a balance on the R28. With his team-mate Nelson Piquet struggling, Alonso is again carrying the points hopes for Renault.
It was pretty clear that Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari wasn't particularly well balanced as his 1 run saw the defending champion miss most of the apexes as the car tended to understeer through the turns. A much tidier 2 lap saw Raikkonen improve significantly, but starting 6, seven-tenths of a second behind Hamilton tells its own story.
Robert Kubica put in a solid performance for BMW Sauber to qualify in 7 positionat a circuit where the F1.08 does not seem to shine, while Mark Webber and David Coulthard will be happy to start 8 and 10 respectively for Red Bull Renault.
With 5 German drivers in the field, the honour of being the fastest German in qualifying fell to Sebastian Vettel who lines up an excellent 9 in his Toro Rosso Ferrari, three-tenths of a second ahead of Coulthard and just two-tenths behind his 2009 team-mate Mark Webber...
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