Hamilton secures second straight pole
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will start ahead of Germany’s Sebastian Vettel for the German Grand Prix.
Published On 6 Jul 2013
Lewis Hamilton raced to pole position on Saturday in the final seconds of qualifying for Sunday’s German Grand Prix, replicating the way he secured pole at the British Grand Prix just a week ago.
The 28-year-old Briton, world champion in 2008, clocked a fastest lap of one minute 29.398 seconds in his Mercedes to outpace nearest rival Sebastian Vettel by one-tenth of a second in a dramatic finale to a tense hour’s action.
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It had looked as if the Red Bull driver’s lap was fast enough for pole as he sought to set himself up for a first win on home soil in the 60-lap race until Hamilton had the last word.
It was Hamilton’s third pole position of the season and the 29th of his career, pulling him level with defending triple world champion and current series leader Vettel in the record books.
Vettel’s Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber was third fastest ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen and his Lotus team-mate Frenchman Romain Grosjean.
In an unexpectedly brilliant display of pace, F1’s second Australian Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth for Toro Rosso ahead of the two Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and Spaniard Fernando Alonso – the Italian team having changed strategy to run on medium-hard tyres in the third qualifying session.
Briton Jenson Button was ninth for McLaren and German Nico Hulkenberg 10th for Sauber on an afternoon when Hamilton’s team-mate, German Nico Rosberg, missed the cut and qualified 11th.
Both Button and Hulkenberg chose not to clock a time in the session as they, like the Ferrari men, opted to go for race strategy instead of grid positions.
Top ten grid for German GP:
1st row
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
2nd row
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault)
3rd row
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
4th row
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
5th row
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)
Nico Hülkenberg (GER/Sauber-Ferrari)
Source: AFP