German GP | Hamilton grabs pole position. Both Ferraris retire for technical issues
It has been a hellish afternoon for the Maranello team: Sebastian Vettel will start his home race in last position due to a turbo failure and Charles Leclerc wasn't able to take part to the Q3 session because of another car breakdown. In all of this drama is Hamilton that cheers: the Mercedes driver secures his 87th poleposition start on a time of 1:11.767.
After a Ferrari domination throughout all the Free Practice Sessions, the Scuderia has to face a huge problem straight after the start of Q1: "I have an issue, I lost power. Is there air blowing out somewhere?" asks a worried Sebastian Vettel.
The homeboy is forced to crawl back to the garage and the apparent turbo failure looks so bad he is forced to desert the session. The four time world champion, not having had the chance to set a time, is out of Q1 and will start the race in last place.
Another falling star of this first session is Lando Norris, which wasn't able to improve his 16th time. Alex Albon felt victim of traffic and was therefore excluded. The Toro Rosso rookie had to abort his lap due to a sitting duck McLaren on the racing line. An unsafe release involving Kvyat and Grosjean will be investigated after the session as well. To start in front of Vettel are going to be Russell and Kubica.
Sebastian Vettel on his elimination in Q1:
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2019
"I don't know what happened - something was broken with the turbo. It's bitter for us. The car feels great and we have missed a big opportunity here"#F1 #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/pHievpvXxM
More drama hits Hockenheim five minutes into the Q2 session: Max Verstappen opens on the radio to complain about a loss of power on the straight. The Red Bull crew manages to send the #33 car back on track and the Dutchman is then able to grab the fourth position.
The drivers that exit the qualifications at the end of Q2 are Giovinazzi, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Kvyat and Stroll. Among the top teams, Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc will start the race on the medium compound of tyres. The Red Bull duo, instead, on the red-painted rubber.
Tension boils with the green flag to indicate the start of the Q3 session: Charles Leclerc, after a long wait in the garage, jumps out of his Ferrari car and leaves the box. It's a dramatic afternoon for the Maranello team, which loses both drivers after a promising start of the weekend.
Lewis Hamilton, got rid of Ferrari's pressure, storms to grab poleposition in a dramatic Saturday afternoon. Behind the championship leader sits Max Verstappen that keeps Valtteri Bottas behind. Pierre Gasly conquers fourth place, ahead of a great Kimi Raikkonen.
