Sebastian Vettel took pole position for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, stealing pole away from Valtteri Bottas in the dying stages of Q3 as Lewis Hamilton suffered reliability woes.
Following a sodden FP3 session this morning, the track had dried out meaning that the full hour-long qualifying was held in dry conditions, albeit with a few damp patches off-line were visible in the early stages of Q1.
Hamilton was a shock Q2 exit following a loss of hydraulics on his Mercedes in the closing seconds of Q1; the Briton had already posted a time fast enough to progress to Q2 but unable to take part.
Hamilton ran wide at Turn 1 as he started his final Q1 effort, his W09 becoming briefly airborne and landing hard.
He struggled to change gear as he attempted to return to the pits, and ground to a halt towards the end of the lap.
Vettel led the field following the first Q3 runs with a 1m11.539s tour; leaving him just under two-tenths clear of the sole remaining Mercedes of Bottas.
Raikkonen was a further tenth-and-a-half back, while Verstappen and Grosjean completed the provisional top five positions.
Raikkonen improved on his second lap to sit just 0.008s behind his team-mate’s initial effort, before Bottas usurped the pair to take provisional pole, just a tenth clear of the Ferrari duo.
Vettel then recorded a superb 1m11.212s to snatch pole back away from the Finn by just over two- tenths, setting a Hockenheim new lap record in the process.
Max Verstappen took best-of-the-rest honours in fourth, just over six-tenths away from Vettel, while Kevin Magnussen managed to head an all-Haas third row ahead of Romain Grosjean.
The two Renaults followed them home in seventh and eighth, Nico Hulkenberg leading Carlos Sainz, as Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez closed out the top ten for Sauber and Force India respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo who, following several grid penalties for utilising several fresh engine components that will relegate him to the back regardless of where he qualifies, decided to sit out the second qualifying session having progressed from Q1.
Marcus Ericsson spun his Sauber into the Turn 12 gravel trap on his first Q2 effort, and despite managing to dig himself free a brief red flag period was needed in order to sweep the gravel brought back onto the circuit as he re-joined.
With Hamilton and Ricciardo not setting a time in Q2, only three remaining midfield runners failed to progress into Q3.
Ericsson failed to reach Q3 once again as he lapped seven-tenths slower than team-mate Leclerc in 13th, while Fernando Alonso and Sergey Sirotkin joined him on the sidelines in 11th and 12th.
Esteban Ocon meanwhile failed to progress to Q2 for the first time this year, the Frenchman only managing to set the 16th fastest time in Q1.
Both Toro Rosso’s joined him as Q1 causalities, Pierre Gasly leading Brendon Hartley in 17th and 18th places, while Lance Stroll and Stoffel Vandoorne completed the drivers eliminated from the session.
