German GP: Hamilton beats Vettel to pole

    In a close fight at the end of the session, Hamilton produced a 1m29.398s to beat Vettel's Red Bull to the top spot by 0.103 seconds.

    Published On Jul 06, 2013 11:42:00 PM

    1,078 Views

    German GP: Hamilton beats Vettel to pole

    Lewis Hamilton beat Sebastian Vettel in the German Grand Prix pole fight, as his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg did not even make Q3.

    In a close fight at the end of the session, Hamilton produced a 1m29.398s to beat Vettel's Red Bull to the top spot by 0.103 seconds.

    Hamilton had held provisional pole on a 1m29.540s after the first Q3 runs, with Vettel going 0.039s quicker before the Mercedes responded and beat him.

    Mercedes appeared to make a simple miscalculation with Rosberg, believing his early Q2 time - good enough for second when it was set - would be sufficient.

    But the second half of the field was shaken right up when nearly everyone improved in final seconds, and as the likes of Jenson Button, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg squeezed into the top 10, Rosberg was pushed out.

    Mark Webber put the second Red Bull third, ahead of Lotus pair Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

    Ricciardo - whose Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was only 16th - continued his excellent qualifying form with sixth.

    Ferrari opted out of the pole fight. Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso ran medium tyres in Q3 rather than the faster softs and ended up on row four.

    McLaren's Button followed the same tactic in ninth and did not do a Q3 flying lap. Hulkenberg reached Q3 for Sauber and followed suit.

    Neither Force India reached Q2, with Paul di Resta 12th and Adrian Sutil a very disappointing 15th at home.

    Sergio Perez looked in danger of getting knocked out in Q1 at one stage, so his eventual 13th place was not as bad as it might have been. His McLaren will share row seven with compatriot Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber.

    Williams joined Caterham and Marussia in the bottom six.

    
    Pos Driver                Team                 Time       Gap       
     1.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes             1m29.398s
     2.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault     1m29.501s  +0.103s
     3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault     1m29.608s  +0.210s
     4.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault        1m29.892s  +0.494s
     5.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault        1m29.959s  +0.561s
     6.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m30.528s  +1.130s
     7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari              1m31.126s  +1.728s
     8.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari              1m31.209s  +1.811s
     9.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes     No time set
    10.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari       No time set
    Q2 cut-off time: 1m30.269s                             Gap ** 
    11.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m30.326s  +0.501s
    12.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m30.697s  +0.872s
    13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m30.933s  +1.108s
    14.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m31.010s  +1.185s
    15.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m31.010s  +1.185s
    16.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m31.104s  +1.279s
    Q1 cut-off time: 1m31.681s                              Gap * 
    17.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m31.693s  +1.146s
    18.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m31.707s  +1.160s
    19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m32.937s  +2.390s
    20.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m33.063s  +2.516s
    21.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m33.734s  +3.187s
    22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m34.098s  +3.551s
    
    107% time: 1m36.885s
    * Gap to quickest in Q1
    ** Gap to quickest in Q2

    Copyright (c) Autosport. All rights reserved.

    Comments

    ×
    img

    No comments yet. Be the first to comment.

    Ask Autocar Anything about Car and Bike Buying and Maintenance Advices
    Need an expert opinion on your car and bike related queries?
    Ask Now

    Search By Car Price

    Poll of the month

    The Creta will be the third Hyundai N-Line model in India. Should more mass-market brands have sporty sub-brands?

    Yes, it's something special for enthusiasts

     

    18.49%

    Yes, but only if there is increased performance

     

    44.28%

    No, it's just a gimmick to increase the price

     

    29.35%

    It doesn't always work; just look at Tata JTP

     

    7.89%

    Total Votes : 1547
    Sign up for our newsletter

    Get all the latest updates from the automobile universe