Lewis Hamilton takes Germany pole, Ferrari fall apart amid Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc failures

German GP

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Hamilton takes Germany pole, Ferrari fall apart amid Vettel, Leclerc failures

Matthew Scott

Saturday 27 July 2019 16:01 Updated: 17:24

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Lewis Hamilton breezed to pole position for the German Grand Prix after Ferrari's challenge fell apart amid mechanical failures on both Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc's cars.

Vettel is set to start his home race last after failing to set a timed lap in Q1, while Leclerc looked a hit favourite for pole until he was forced to abandon his efforts at the start of Q3, taking 10th on the grid as a result.

Mercedes had been on the back foot for much of the weekend, with Ferrari take one and two in all of the practice sessions, prompting a change of bodywork on Hamilton's car as they desperately sought more pace.

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In the end, things fell into the Silver Arrows' lap as the Scuderia dropped like flies and Max Verstappen's Red Bull was just unable to match pace with Hamilton.

The Dutchman took second, with Valtteri Bottas third, but the heavy threat of rain for Sunday's race ensures thrills and spills remain guaranteed.

Pierre Gasly delivered an excellent lap after crashing in FP2 on Friday, although the time was taken from him for exceeding track limits as the stewards cracked down. Regardless, the Frenchman will start fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, driving an Australia-spec Haas, occupy the third row, with Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg set to start immediately ahead of Leclerc, who is 10th.

Q2

Daniel Ricciardo was the high-profile departure, along with Antonio Giovinazzi and Daniil Kvyat. Kevin Magnussen was eliminated, outqualified again by Grosjean running Haas' season-opening spec. Lance Stroll was 15th, having gotten out of Q1 for the first time in 15 races, but he was behind Perez, who wins the season battle between them already.

Q1

Vettel's misfortune dominated the opening session, but it was also notable for Lando Norris going out in Q1 for the first time in his F1 career. Alexander Albon also went out after Norris blocked him on his flying run, so the McLaren man might face further punishment. The Williams pair went out as expected, George Russell ahead of Robert Kubica to secure the qualifying battle between them for the season.