Hamilton grabs pole as Ferrari suffer double breakdown

F1 Grand Prix, GP Germany, Hockenheimring

Lewis Hamilton outpaced Max Verstappen to take pole position for the German Grand Prix. It ended up in a fairly straight forward affair for the Briton, as both Ferraris, who had been closest earlier in the weekend, suffered technical trouble.

Already at the very beginning of qualifying, Ferrari suffered a major setback as Sebastian Vettel returned to the pits with a turbo issue after completing just a single lap. The Scuderia had found a problem with air flow to the engine's turbo, forcing Vettel to end his qualifying session and face a start from the back of the grid.

Having had the upper hand throughout all practice sessions, all eyes were then on Leclerc to take pole. The Monegasque eased through Q1 and went second fastest in Q2, only to be halted with a fuel system problem, forcing him to end qualifying without setting a time in the Q3.

With the prancing horses out of the way, Hamilton was flawless and went on to take pole, followed by Verstappen at 4 tenths. Valtteri Bottas was extremely close but failed to bet Verstappen to make it an all-Mercedes front row. The Finn will start from third, aside Pierre Gasly.

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a fruitful qualifying session for Alfa Romeo to take 5th on the grid, just ahead of Grosjean who continued to go strongly while Haas F1 teammate Kevin Magnussen ended up just 12th.

Carlos Sainz qualified best for McLaren to put an orange car in 7th. Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were the slowest man in Q3, but ended up 8th and 9th, ahead of the unfortunate Leclerc.