Sebastian Vettel took his first pole since the Canadian Grand Prix at his home event at the Hockenheimring with a record breaking lap. Vettel's 1 minute 11.212 seconds was two-tenths faster than Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport‘s Valtteri Bottas, with Kimi Räikkönen three-tenths off the pace in third. Championship contender Lewis Hamilton failed to celebrate his new Mercedes contract with a 77th career pole, after a suspected gearbox failure in the late stages of Qualifying 1 left him starting from fourteenth position at best. Bottas had secured provisional pole on his last lap, to the disbelief and joy of Toto Wolff in the Mercedes garage, before Vettel's last gasp effort ensured...
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