2010 German GP: Qualifying

Vettel on pole for home race

Ferrari finally returned to the top of the time sheets in the second free practice at Hockenheim. Alonso posted a time of 1’16.265 followed by Vettel and Massa. Qualifying started on a green track (without any rubber laid on the tarmac) thanks to an overnight shower. Almost all the drivers seemed to struggle on the harder compound tyres with little or no grip. This was made evident by the crash of Force India driver Tonio Liuzzi. Liuzzi ran a bit wide into the last corner and spun-off crashing into the pit wall. The stewards had to stop the race while the debris was recoverd.

Liuzzi crashes into the pit wall

The session was restarted with 14 mins remaining. Redbull, McLaren and Ferrari were quickly out of pits as getting the tyres upto temperature was difficult. Lap times tumbled as the front runners came to grips with prevailing conditions. McLaren’s seemed to struggle a bit while the Redbulls showed awesome pace at the front. Both the Ferraris bounced back in Q2 with Alonso setting the fastest time(1’13.279). Vettel could not match the times set by Alonso in Q2. However, with a fresh set of soft compound tyres, he blitzed the track during Q3 much to the delight of the German fans.

Both the Ferraris looked menacing during the session

After Q3, Vettel tops followed by the two Ferraris. Webber and Button in 4th and 5th with Lewis settling for 6th. Michael Shumacher was once again out qualified by Rosberg who lines up 9th for tomorrows race. Shumacher had failed to qualify for Q3. The best of the Renaults of Kubica was 7th fastest while Sutil starts way back in 19th.