The German Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

championship brings us to the home of the British Grand Prix.

Conditions are going to make life difficult and it could change the

way we see cars running throughout the session. What has Hamilton done

here? It is fastest at the moment. It looks good for Hamilton. The

session is coming to an end. It does not look as if there will be any

changes. Hulkenberg has gone fastest estimation! Hamilton is sick! Why

did you come in at the end? I do not have much of an answer for you.

Lewis Hamilton is going to start in the sixth at Silverstone. If he is

going to win the British Grand Prix, it is going to be an amazing race.

Away we go and Hamilton going on the outside. Oh, my goodness. It is

Raikkonen. A red flag, the race has been completely stopped. After an

hour's delay, Nico Rosberg has launched himself away. Is he going

to give him the space? Hamilton takes second place from Jenson

Button. Ricciardo has to go defensive. What a brilliant move

from Fernando Alonso. Rosberg is in trouble and Lewis Hamilton leads the

British Grand Prix. Rosberg is out. Bottas is in second place. A massive

cheer has gone up all around Silverstone. Hamilton is going to

win the British Grand Prix. He wins for the second time. England! I am

sorry about yesterday, but I cannot be happier. It is a very special day

for a Lewis Hamilton. And a very special day for British

bands. This week and it is the German Grand Prix and this year we

are in Hockenheim. Hello and welcome to qualifying. This is going to be

hot stuff. 38 degrees, is it hot enough for you? More than hot enough

for me and for the drivers it will be a huge challenge and they have to

control the brake temperatures and from the relative cool of

Silverstone to the heat here. The tyres need to be chilled. They can

operate in these temperatures, the track temperature is below 60, but

the performance drops off incredibly. To manage how you get

the best out of the tyres on one lap is a huge challenge. We alternate

this Grand Prix between Nuremberg and Hockenheim, but the track is

different now to help it was in 2001. The change is massive. There

have been a lots of big changes over the years. The stadium section still

remains. It is a great thing. You can see the outline of the old track

in amongst the forest. They are giving it back to the forest. To

nature. But I think nature enjoyed racing cars going out amongst the

trees! We have a much shorter, modified race track, but it retains

the infield section and hopefully we will have a full grandstand on

Sunday and it is a great space for the drivers to show their skills and

to display the cars. It has been a couple of weeks since the last race

at Silverstone. Here is the news with Tom Clarkson.

As weeks ago, the last one has been pretty good for Nico Rosberg. He

married his girlfriend, he watched Germany win the World Cup and he

signed a new contract for a Mercedes. Which was the most

memorable? I have to be careful. Definitely the marriage. That was

the most emotional experience. There is good news from Kimi Raikkonen who

has reported no lasting physical damage from this massive crash at

Silverstone two weeks ago. According to his team-mate Fernando Alonso,

there are reasons for them to feel pretty confident. I won three times

in Hockenheim and two times in Nuremberg. Every time I come to

Germany is good news. Rarely do we get through a season without a

technical controversy and 2014 is no different. The issue in Hockenheim

is front and rear interconnected suspension. The FIA has advised

teams not to run it. There is a rule called Article and there is a belief

now that this system had gone across that line and are overly affecting

the aerodynamics, rather than the suspension behaviour. Take a look at

these low profile, 18 inch wheels from a rally. They made their debut

at the Silverstone test with a view to replacing the 13 inch rims in

years to come. There was a discussion and people were talking

about 18 or 19 inches and I thought, rather than talk about it,

show the world what it looks like. It was not a technological

discussion, it was making it more relevant to what people see on a

road car. The objective is linked with other discussions about what

Formula One should look like in the future. New management has made

it's presence felt at caterer. People have been made redundant, but

there is good news on the horizon. We are working hard on a new car.

Next week we are running already the new car with upgrades to be planned.

We are working and pushing very hard. David, no Fricke system this

weekend and Red Bull have closed the gap to Mercedes a bit. Is that to do

with this technological change? It is impossible to know for sure, but

the nature of this track lends itself to the Red Bull car. That

said, the track temperatures are very different to other venues.

There are still a few answers to be had. For the drivers it must feel

different without that system in place. It is no different to

changing compound of tyres. With a super-soft you have got more grip

and it degrades, so drivers adapt. Taking this Fricke system of the

cars, it is a feeling they have to drive with. And Susie Wolff did that

on Friday in free practice one and it was more successful than

Silverstone. At Silverstone she got no running at all. She is a talented

racing driver, no question about it. There were murmurings that it was

all about because she was a lady, but she did a fantastic job. She is

probably not the next Lewis Hamilton, but very few are. What is

next for her? It will be difficult to convert that into a full-time

race drive, but she is focusing on Formula One and is contributing to

the women's team and is delivering. Let's have a look at how the

championship looks. That win for a Lewis Hamilton closed the gap at the

top. The difference is now just four points.

Daniela Ricciardo is the only one to win for Red Bull. He is outshining

his team-mate Sebastien battle. Sebastien Vettel, the world

champion! The new world champion. 2012 world champion. Sebastien

battle is the 20 13th world champion. Yes, yes, I lost drive,

tell me what to do. His weekend and his season goes from bad to worse.

It has been a tough start, but how are you feeling? It has been a tough

start and a rough season so far, but Formula One can be very nice and

fantastic, but it can be also very cruel in a matter of retiring

because of technical problems, but that is part of the game. The four

times world champion's miserable season continues. How are you

feeling in terms of comfort in the car. In qualifying you were the one

to fear and over one lap you had speed and you could put it all

together. We have not seen that so much this year. Why is that? The

four times world champion has failed to get into the top ten. So far

things have not come our way yet, but I am confident they will. We are

still trying to understand the car and we believe we can improve it, so

we are testing things. Some things work and some things do not. To be

fair, some laps were good and other laps I was messing up. It is not as

constant and as regular as in the past. I have one quote from a very

good friend who said, forget the people around you right now,

remember the little boy that you were racing in go-karts and what you

were dreaming of and what he wanted to achieve one day and what was his

goal. Race for him. I fell in love with the sport and the amount of

satisfaction I get from going around in a Formula One car makes me

smile. If you had to pick between doing that or doing nothing, even

with the bad days, you would choose that. Daniela Ricciardo takes his

first ever win. He wins in Canada. There is respect between yourself

and Daniel. You were the first to congratulate him. How different is

the atmosphere in the garage this year from last year? To be honest

there was a lot of talk, but it is true to say we were not best

friends. In that regard on a personal basis I have a better

relationship to Daniel, but even in the worst times we were talking to

each other and pushing the team forward. In that regard nothing has

changed. Danny has a different way to do things because he is a

different height. I respect a lot what he is doing. The highlight was

Montr?al and there was no point ruining his day saying everything

went wrong. I love to win more than anything else, but equally we have

to respect what other guys are doing. Do you think the next time

you win will see more special because we almost got used to that

happening? Winning is always special. Sebastien Vettel equals one

of the oldest record in Formula One, nine consecutive Grand Prix wins.

The level of satisfaction you get when you know you have done a good

job, you get the reward with the trophy and a few sips of champagne

on the podium and that is one of the best feelings in the world people

cheering. In a way I am addicted to that and I want to get that feeling

sooner rather than later. A very laid-back Sebastien Vettel talking

to Lee McKenzie. What positives would you take from that? How

relaxed he is and how he is enjoying the fact even though he is not

winning, he has had an amazing four years with back-to-back

championships. We have seen frustration come through on his

other interviews on track, but at the moment he is reflecting on

enjoying the moment and building the team up again. Do you see him

winning again? Daniel won in Canada, so Mercedes have fragility in the

system. In terms of winning on his home turf, that is unlikely. But

during the course of the year, if Renault keep developing, why not.

Let's find out what is happening at Ferrari.

There is a lot less going on now than there was ten minutes ago. It

has been frantic. They have been replacing the fuel pump on Kimi

Raikkonen's tire. They have put a new pump in. Ironically his car is

in a better state than Fernando Alonso's which is having the

finishing touches put to it. It has been busy since the end of FP three.

Eriksson had a hydraulics issue. Max Chilton had an fellow conics problem

and that is fixed. Adrian Sutil has had a new battery pack put in and

now everybody should be ready for the start.

Nico Rosberg was fastest this morning and it is very important to

qualify well. Seven of the last winners have come from the front row

of the grid. We can go to the pit lane and David and Ben are your

commentators. Here is Q1. Hockenheim. Who will take the mount

of this 17 turn circuit to put themselves in pole position for the

race. What you think will take to make it through? I spoke to the

engineers and they are saying it is difficult to to predict the cut-off

time. Lotus were unusually slow this morning, down in 15th

time. Lotus were unusually slow this tenths. Taking an average of what

the engineers told me, we have to get to 1.19.5 to be safe.

the engineers told me, we have to are confident that they can get out

during Q1. I have just had a text message saying still pushing,

hopeful to be out before the end of Q1. Max

hopeful to be out before the end of done on his car from this

hopeful to be out before the end of session. Lewis Hamilton is on a fast

lap. We think Mercedes could stick with these tyres and said that

super-soft tyres for later. -- and save. What kind of lap time is

this? Lewis Hamilton goes fastest. 1.18.6. He was on those softer tyres

this morning. That could well be enough. Felipe Massa now coming

across the line. He may well have done enough to get through this

first part of qualifying and not have to resort to the softer tyres.

Nico Rosberg now, pretty much replicating what Jean-Eric Vergne

did. TEAM RADIO: slowdown next lap.

Well both cars have gone out on the super-soft tyres. About a second

difference her lap. They do not have a chance of getting out on the soft.

Valtteri Bottas has just gone fastest. The track is not to

dissimilar from the layout of the track in Austria.

It is a good initial gambit from Valtteri Bottas. Quite a lot more

turns on this lap down in Austria. Sebastian Vettel was like fastest

this morning. Winner of the German Grand Prix last year of course. And

in the past he has had all position here. He goes fifth for the moment.

Encouraging. Fastest of all on that last sector. We know that Red Bull

have difficulties with their power unit. Maldonado running wide on that

turn. There is not an issue with on loading and inside Google, just a

question of the drivers being as greedy as they can on the brakes. A

question of the drivers being as replay now of Nico Rosberg. Having

all sorts of trouble. Goes wide but no penalties for that. That will

cost him time. Overtaken by Ferrari. That was not his quick lap. Hamilton

currently fastest and Nico Rosberg has not established a lap time at

all. He needs to address this. Earlier on today in the third

practice session he put in a beautiful lap.

The forecast was for rain appearing on Sunday. But that forecast is

changing and it may not arrive until Sunday night. In towards Sachskurve.

Currently fourth fastest already, Alonso. We can just watch him

complete the lap. His sector times are looking slower and he stays

fourth for the moment. It is all about getting into the top 16.

This was Alonso a moment ago. A little bit wide. But nothing too

critical. little bit wide. But nothing

The circuit goes slightly left before you go to that high-speed

corner. I do not think that would cost him too much time. Hamilton

crashes! Hamilton has crashed in qualifying at Hockenheim! And what

an unusual sight that is. He just sat fastest first sector. If he has

a wheel on the white line of the crass, that would explain that. Very

unusual. That accident started to happen as soon as he was braking for

that corner. He's second-fastest at the moment. There will be changes of

course to that order. He may have got through to the next sector of

qualifying. But the car badly damaged. So this could have a

massive impact on his qualifying. TEAM RADIO: Lewis, let us know

you're OK. I'm OK. The brakes failed.

One of the scariest things that can happen in a racing car. Indeed.

Clearly shaken. Let us just try to see what

happened. That is him coming through at incredibly high speed. Keep it

tidy. Took his hands of before. The front

left had locked up. There might have been an issue with the recovery

system. He pitched into a spin early. You can see a puff of smoke

from the brakes. He throws the car in. There is retardation on the

front axle. It did lock up when he got on the brakes. If you have

pressure in the brake line then a possible cause could be the way that

they charge the batteries. Of course using the motor generator unit. That

creates a sensation of engine braking effectively. If he had an

issue with that that would not give him the retardation that he was

expecting. Five consecutive qualifying

sessions. Something has gone wrong for Lewis Hamilton. He has been

beaten by Nico Rosberg. TEAM RADIO: OK. Three times.

The session is about to restart after that accident. Any updates,

Tom? A couple. Lewis Hamilton just drove past me in the medical car. He

was sacked in the back. He did not even glance at his team as he drove

past them. And this stoppage was past them. And this stoppage was

good for Caterham. I just had a word with them. They're hoping to get

Marcus Ericsson out before the end of Q1.

Nico Rosberg first out. He set a very slow lap time. He is not in

that top group. He has gone out on the super-soft tyres. Mercedes would

have preferred not to use that but they decided not worth taking a

gamble. Just get in a decent lap. It is all about getting into the top

16. And at the moment Valtteri Bottas is on the top of the timing

sheets. Hamilton, his plan for earlier still has him second.

I think Nico Rosberg should get out of the drop zone fairly soon.

If the engineers had information on some kind of failure in the car,

given we are halfway through the season, then you have got the

confidence to say that it is an isolated event. From time to time

things can fail and isolated event. From time to time

fact of life. There would be no reason for them not to send out Nico

Rosberg. Lewis Hamilton is in the medical

centre. They are checking his knees. There is a limited amount of space

of course in the cockpit. He does have leg pads on to stop his knees

flapping around. That takes some of the stress of the group. And if you

have a crash, then it stops your legs

have a crash, then it stops your Rosberg has set the fastest first

sector of anyone in this session to date. Coming

sector of anyone in this session to up earlier. And all much more

controlled up earlier. And all much more

He really waits to get onto the power but when he does he get on it

solidly and cleanly. This is going to be a very fast lap.

Not fastest in that middle sector, surprisingly. That place to the

strength of the Mercedes normally. Valtteri Bottas highlighting just

how good a lap that was. He has the fastest little sector. But Nico

Rosberg goes fastest with a very quick final sector. And now we have

some idea of the true pace of the Mercedes. But that is on the

super-soft tyres. Sergio Perez now. He could do with a faster lap to

make him safe. It has been a quiet weekend so far

for Force India through the practice sessions. You sense that this track

is just not suiting them. They're somewhat stalled in the development

of the car. Cornforth with that lap. -- gone

forth. Jensen Button has rarely been

outqualified by a team-mate here at Hockenheim. But right now Marcus

Ericsson is tense. -- tense. Pretty evenly matched there. Kimi

Raikkonen just crossing the line and he is now fifth behind Jenson

Button. Plenty more improvements coming through.

I was surprised to see so many going out on the super-soft tyres,

especially Nico Rosberg. There is no need for him to do that. I can only

assume they're trying to save the soft for the race.

Seems a bit strange, but there we are. Nico Rosberg safely through.

McLaren happy with that lap time on the super-soft tyres. Amongst the

front runners it is only Valtteri Bottas who has set the time on the

harder compound tyres and sat with that, not done any more. Adrian

Sutil with the Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo just a fraction

slower. Sebastian Vettel in the first sector, around half a second

down on the best sector time of Valtteri Bottas in the middle

sector. The Red Bull continuing to lose in certain areas.

Nice early drive, short shift. Red Bull second and third. Daniel

Brickyard with an edge over his team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Alonso

in a bit of danger down in 15th place. This is Romain Grosjean. Has

the Lotus got the pace to do it? They have been struggling this

weekend. He is 13th, he does it. Good effort by him. Lotus needed

something special. He seems to have delivered and it has pushed Adrian

Sutil out of the top 16. His team-mate Maldonado is down in 19th,

but a very slow first sector. Well over a second and a half down.

Because of that mistake in the first sector he will remain in 19th place.

Bianchi is 18. The fastest of the Marussias and the Cajuns at this

point. Let's see what Kobayashi does. He is not on the pace of

Bianchi. Maldonado was not able to do anything. He has seen the

chequered flag. These are the ones who have not made it through into

the second part of qualifying. But Gutierrez is through. Max Chilton at

21. Ericsson failing to get out in the end.

Lady luck deserted Lewis Hamilton. These are shots of him coming back

into the paddock. He looks fairly shocked by that incident and he is

walking slightly gingerly. We now know he is OK. Let's have another

look at the incident. You need to look at the front right of the car.

He said it felt like a brake failure. We now know the team

confirmed a right front disk failure.

First and foremost, how are you feeling? I am OK, I am a bit

bruised, but OK. What was the damage from the car? Will you be able to

start from the grid? I have a feeling it is a pit lane. I will try

my hardest to catch up. It is going to be a hard slog from dead last and

more, but we will do everything. The second part of qualifying is about

to get under way. That is the green light at the end of this pit lane

for this 15 minute session. We have now got our 16 runners and we have

to narrow them down to top ten. But we know Lewis Hamilton will not be

starting in this session, so he will automatically qualify in 16th

position. The top 16 are featuring most of the other front runners. The

two Williams drivers are looking competitive so far. The cut-off time

proved to be pretty accurate, Tom. We knew it was going to be difficult

to judge. Have we any way of judging what it will be to get into the top

ten? Everyone has revealed their hands a little bit. We saw a lot

more super-soft running than we normally do. Let's assume they are

running a bit heavy, low 18 for Q3. That is Nico Rosberg's are being

prepared to come out. He is going straight back out on a new set of

super-soft tyres. With a flying lap on the super-soft he could have

considered that. They will be left under the blankets and going through

a curing process which will harden the rubber once you have taken them

out on the racetrack. This is Hulkenberg where we saw Hamilton go

off a little bit earlier on. He has got a double right-hander to finish

the lap and he needs a good except to accelerate across the line. We

have got the rotating camera on board his car as well so we can

enjoy a different view. That was perfectly timed. You can see the

tell-tale signs of smoke as he locked the inside right. This is the

longest section of locked the inside right. This is the

can get up to well over 200 miles an hour as you approach the hairpin.

The TRS is shut as a safety feature. Through five absolutely

flat out. Get the car as straight as possible for a heavy braking into

six. A beautiful apex through there to pull the car back across to the

left. This is where it starts to get tricky if you come back to the old

circuit. It gets narrow. This is where Lewis Hamilton crashed at the

hairpin. A small lock-up as he dropped it down into the apex and up

over the rise and he drops down into the second last corner. It is

difficult to make a pit entry during the Grand Prix. You have got to keep

turning right. A tricky one for the drivers. 18.2. Kimi Raikkonen has

been looking a bit more comfortable today. Let's see if he can continue

that. Not all the drivers try and tuck into the apex.

that. Not all the drivers try and it in for best attraction

town. Felipe Massa has gone fastest. Now Bottas goes quickest. It is

three tenths faster than Rosberg. Hulkenberg is happy with lap. There

is not a big difference between them. Alonso is currently fourth.

Followed by Hulkenberg, them. Alonso is currently fourth.

and Gutierrez. It is about them. Alonso is currently fourth.

ten. We are waiting for a number of cars to set their first lap. Daniel

Ricciardo got quite close to the Mercedes, but has not looked quite

so competitive against them today so far. Keeping it as tidy as possible.

Rosberg moves over to the right. far. Keeping it as tidy as possible.

Traffic through the kink at five. Grosjean in the Lotus keeps it tidy

at five and six. It is surprising the drop-down force we have seen

this season, the amount of lift the drivers are having to do as they go

through the kink at seven. They are using all the road. He gets wide

over the back of the kerb. An excellent hairpin. Sector wise he is

not the fastest. Red Bull are losing out in the middle sector as we have

seen already. He is fifth fastest with that behind Alonso. Red Bull

and Ferrari have both been very close to each other. Button is

sixth. Let's see what Sebastien Vettel is doing. This lap is quicker

than Daniel Ricciardo. Let's see whether he finishes it off that way.

Is he going to be Alonso? Yes, you goes third and splits the two

Williams. That is a quick lap by Sebastien Vettel. The fastest man of

all in that last sector. There is a feeling that Red Bull had their

handle on that performance yesterday, but they lost it in the

cooler conditions this morning. But any changes they have made, they

have dialled it back in again. Jenson Button is struggling in

eighth place. Gutierrez is in 12th. JENSON Button: Traffic with the

Lotus. RADIO: We saw that. Trying to get solidly in the top ten,

Hulkenberg. He needs a bit more of a timing improvement. It is very close

between Jenson Button, him and Daniil Kvyat. There is not much of

the drivers can do in sector two. It is pretty much a straight line. This

is called the Mercedes Stadium. But the real place of influence is Turn

1 and where we are right now, coming into the last sector. We saw a

lock-up, but we saw that before with Hulkenberg. Nice control and through

the left. A small lift into the last time. He is up on his own personal

time, so this should improve. He is up into eighth, but he is in that

tight group. That is his qualifying finish. Now he has to wait and see

and hear from his engineer as to whether it will be enough. Others

will be looking for improvement to get into the top ten to get both

Ferraris in there. There is track improvement. We need to do the lap.

Ferrari have picked up that the track is doing better lap times.

Felipe Massa is third, within two tenths of a second of Rosberg's

time. On board with Kimi Raikkonen. Down to the hairpin. That is a bit

of a lock-up. Sometimes you cannot lose too much by missing the apex,

but he braked a bit too deeply there. He was not able to turn the

car into the corner as early as he would have liked to. He has not

looked comfortable at all on the brakes this year, especially in the

Ferrari. He does not seem to be getting into the field he is looking

for. Up ahead of him is Daniil Kvyat. A little bit wide through the

hairpin which results on him getting higher on the kerb. RADIO: We are

getting downgraded. It is not enough Raikkonen. He is 11 and he has got

nothing left. Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line before the flag but the

tyres will not be up for it. Daniel Ricciardo is sixth, so he does not

improve much. Sebastien Vettel has qualified him this occasion. Jenson

Button on the bubble in 10th. The back end of the car is sliding

around. A clear sign of lack of downforce. There is no change. He is

in danger territory. Jean-Eric Vergne is on a pretty good lap. He

does not do it. Jenson Button is safe for the moment. Perez might be

able to do it. It is his only lap because he had not already

established a lap time. He does it! He pushes Button out at the

last-gasp. Eating his former team-mate, Jenson Button, and it is

just enough for him. Daniil Kvyat is night, in the top ten and he has

beaten his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne. In terms of rookie honours

you have to say he is doing a fine job. But Magnussen has also very

easily got into the top ten and crashed his team-mate Jenson Button.

Disappointment for Jenson Button. Two world champions not through to

Q3, Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button.

You were pipped at the post by Sergio Perez or knock you out, you

were so close. Did you think you would go through? Not really after

my laps. I have struggled all week, which is a shame because I like it

here. But I struggled to find the right balance this weekend. What

will you do tomorrow to improve on that? It should be cooler tomorrow,

so it should be good for us. In the hot conditions yesterday we

struggled on the long runs, so hopefully with cooler conditions we

will be better. Was that the best you could have done under the

circumstances? I just could not get the lap. I was sliding into corners

and lost a lot of time. What can you do for the race tomorrow? We will

have to see. The third session of qualifying gets

underway here at Hockenheim. Who is going to end up on pole position?

Nico Rosberg very much favourite. Fastest in both Q1 and Q2. Lewis

Hamilton no longer a part of the equation as a result of that brake

problem which sent him down into the barrier. And no British drivers

fighting in this top ten. It is a long time since we have had a

British driver in the top ten shoot out. I think there have been 18

occasions in the past where a British driver has taken pole

position in a German Grand Prix but it is not going to happen today.

Tom, what news from the pit lane? Well it is very calm. All the

drivers just getting their thoughts together for the Q3 session. I was

looking at Nico Rosberg earlier and wondering what the absence of Lewis

Hamilton, how that will affect his attitude to the session. He might

just be going for bankers now. While the pressure is off. That team

battle is there irrespective of whether you are at the back or front

of the grid. One of those two is going to be world champion and

normal conditions. To have such a lead in the points. So it does take

pressure off. It will be interesting to see that affects his focus. In

many cases you just have that absolute focus and the pressure that

goes with it. And you're not consciously aware of

goes with it. And you're not doing. It is subconscious decisions

and reactions. A bit like a tennis player when you have got an easy

smash. Sometimes be missed the ball because they have had too long to

think about it. -- they miss. Another great races from Sergio

Perez. He looked after his tyres and came through the order. He has been

able to do that this year. You can hear that big lift which we

are not really used to. Just shows that the cars are

struggling with the downforce. Fastest time three seconds slower

than before. He goes fastest for the moment. I'm

used set of super-soft tyres. Not able to show exactly what he can

do. I believe that Nico Rosberg is on a brand new set of the super-soft

tyres so he goes for it straightaway.

A lot of time to think about your braking point down into the

hairpin. He comes out of that hairpin. The Williams cars are also

on a map. Can they compare to Nico Rosberg? This is where he looked

pretty good this morning. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas almost

exactly matched. All nice and tidy so far for Nico

Rosberg. He pulls that card to the left before braking down into the

second last corner. And that's lap time is quick.

1.16.5. Just taking a look at the replay. He used a lot of track but

we are not seeing any penalties for that today. Anti-establishes a very

tough time to beat. He really attacked that first

corner. -- and he establishes. What about Felipe Massa, can he get

any faster? This is good for Valtteri Bottas, his credibility

rising quickly in Formula one. Still some opportunity for a Felipe Massa.

And Daniel Brickyard has put in some brilliant qualifying laps this year.

At the moment he's forced behind the Williams. -- fourth.

That is a sizeable step forward in performance.

Alonso are used set of tyres. Rosberg did use a new set of tyres.

When we get to the second run we might see some improvements.

Magnusson fourth fastest in the McLaren.

Rosberg looking a second off. TEAM RADIO: OK, you just lost time

on that lap. Sebastian Vettel comes across the

line. He is fast than Daniel Brickyard al. -- faster.

line. He is fast than Daniel has just come out on a final new set

of tyres. And those team-mates will be trying to outdo each other.

Hulkenberg has got the advantage in qualifying this year in terms of who

has been ahead of the other in the different qualifying sessions. They

both love this circuit and they know it well.

different qualifying sessions. They both love this Sergio Perez started

his racing career here in Europe. Both of them have done thousands of

laps of this Hockenheim circuit. And this is Perez were watching first.

-- we are watching. Force India putting the power down

reasonably well. Sebastian Vettel comes out of the garage now. It is

going to start to get busy out on circuit. Nico Rosberg has just come

back out. All out on the new tyres. The top ten have an extra

opportunity now with a new set of tyres.

We will see quite a few changes I think in the closing moments.

A study of concentration in the Williams garage.

Williams have had success here at Hockenheim in the past. Can they do

anything on this occasion? Felipe Massa goes on to a lap. He qualified

second back in 2008. He has never been a winner here at Hockenheim. He

finished second in 2006. And also in 2010. That famous radio message

about Fernando Alonso. And now relishing the environment at

Williams. I think he is the right man for Williams as they are

restructuring. The single lap pace is one of his

specialities. He has been unlucky, suffering a crash in crack is. And

then he had that crash in Canada. In between times he got a good fourth

place in Austria. Is this an improvement for Felipe Massa? He is

up to third but still behind his team-mate who is on a good lap. The

fastest middle sector of anyone in this session so far, Valtteri

Bottas. The chequered flag is out. And he stays second. But a great

effort. Nico Rosberg still on a lap himself. He was down a little in the

first sector. Two tenths slower than his previous best. Just as well he

got that lap in earlier. Magnusson is fourth, an excellent effort from

the Danish driver. Proving that McLaren have made progress. It is

Nico Rosberg who seems to have taken pole position. And Williams have

taken second and third on the grid. Another excellent performance from

the team. At Nico Rosberg has taken pole position for his other home

Grand Prix. His list of the season. They were tied coming into this

event at four apiece and now Nico Rosberg has taken the fourth pole

and proves himself ahead in that Trophy race. His first ever pole

position in Germany and the fifth consecutive time that he has

outqualified Lewis Hamilton. TEAM RADIO:. OK, good effort in those

circumstances. Starting up front in this Grand Prix

is definitely the place to be. It has always been one from the front

row since 2002. -- won. We think Lewis Hamilton will line up on the

grid in 15th place. And he will have a tall order to win the race from

there. Especially with his team-mate Nico Rosberg grabbing the top spot

in qualifying once again here today. He

in qualifying once again here today. duo and also Kevin Magnussen and the

Red Bull cars. Ferrari, promising a lot over the weekend but failed

Red Bull cars. Ferrari, promising a deliver. The top ten rounded out by

Red Bull cars. Ferrari, promising a Sergio Perez. And it is pretty much

team by team. We lost the other Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton.

Jenson Button down in 11th place. Hulkenberg just ahead of Perez. And

Jensen Button in 11th place. Poor old Marcus Ericsson never got

Jensen Button in 11th place. Poor all so will start at the back of the

grid. The three top all so will start at the back of the

together for that photo opportunity. Nico Rosberg gaming pole position

for the German Grand Prix. His mind in his career. -- ninth.

Congratulations to Nico Rosberg. What a week it has been for you.

Congratulations to Nico Rosberg. Only a little annoyed that it was

not an open fight with Lewis Hamilton today? Of course I'm happy.

It has been a great day and great to be first in front of the home crowd.

Of course I'm not ecstatic. I would have been if it had been an open

fight with Lewis Hamilton. That is the best when we do have those in

qualifying. You had a difficult start to the qualifying session but

when you got into the lap it was really clean. Talk us through what

you're thinking at this moment? I nailed that one!

I thought you said what I was thinking at that moment! It was

awesome. It is hard to get that first turn right because it is a

narrow a Pax and you only have one shot at it. -- Apex. Then coming

into turn six, a little bit wide on the Apex but it does not cost lap

time. I know I I have made the most of it in braking. Overheating the

tyres on the exit so that was a bit difficult. And now coming into the

stadium section. Really fast into that corner. And then this is the

most difficult corner on the track. A small lock-up. That is actually

the fastest way to do it for me. It gives me some understeer so I just

stuck with that and it worked well. S what do you think about the race

tomorrow? Could you turn it into the most perfect week of your life ever?

Starting from pole position is best placed to be. I need to keep an eye

on the Williams and the people behind me, but I have the best car

and for the race tomorrow it should be good if I get a good start. It is

an important part. I will also keep an eye on Lewis because with the car

we have and the way he is driving there is a chance he will make it.

The Williams made it from 18 to second at Silverstone, so there is

no reason why he cannot come through as well. Nico Rosberg, thank you. A

great lap for you today. Could you squeeze any more out of that car? I

think that was all there was. It felt like a really good lap. I think

today managing the tyres and getting them to the perfect temperature and

getting a good sector today has been important and I think I got a good

compromise from the tire for the track. What was impressive was the

consistency nailing the sectors. Is this one of the strongest

performances you have put in this year? It must be, I felt really

confident today in the car. We have been working really hard since

yesterday with this new suspension. There was an effect with how the car

was behaving and we got it better today. I got used to the track. In

qualifying it felt nice and consistent and I was able to do it

lap by lap. When you say there was a better effect, did that manifested

itself in terms of the aerodynamics? There is a bit of a difference to

how the balance of the car is changing and on the bumps, how the

car is behaving differently. In practice three I still was not

completely happy and we made changes and it got better. Does it feel more

like you have gone back to a disconnected suspension system? Kind

of. It feels more natural about what a car should do in a corner. I do

not mind. In the end, once we have already improved a lot I am sure we

will still go forward. For as it was another big hit with the rules. We

wish you all the best tomorrow. It seems to be coming together.

Felipe Massa, congratulations, just beaten by your team-mate. I you

happy? Yes, for sure. You always want to be in front, but he did a

great lap and we need to concentrate on doing a great race tomorrow. It

is a difficult weekend because the temperature is very high and

everything can happen in the race, even in the rain. We need to be

ready for everything and I hope we can put everything together and we

have a good card tomorrow as well. Great to see Kevin Magnussen who

will be going from the second road tomorrow. Has the upgrade helped

you? Yes, it has. For me the car has been working really well this

weekend. We got a new rear wing which came early, so a good job to

the guys in the factory for pushing that through. And also to the guys

in the garage for getting the most out of it this weekend. We could see

your confidence in the car. It was the complete opposite of Jenson

Button who was sliding around a lot. Very tidy laps. Talk us around it. I

did not think I would be able to improve on Q2, but I am sure the

track improved a little bit. I went for it. I had two sets of tyres. The

first lap was really good. I tried to give it everything and it worked

out. Over 200 miles an hour as you hit the breaking point in to Turn 4.

You had a very tight apex. A lot of cars missed that corner. Was that

part of your strategy? You want to break late, but if you miss the

apex, it costs a lot of time. If you nailed it, there is a lot of time to

be gained. This is the old part of the race track and it narrows as you

come in here. Yes, this part is the best part of the track. You can

really break late and you do not really need to hit the apex. Break a

bit too late and you will still be all right. The last bit you need to

get power early and it is a really good track. It is a fit lap. There

is an incredible amount of Danish support. It must almost be like a

home race. Denmark is not far away from here, 900 kilometres, but it is

great to see these guys. I know a lot of them. You have given them

something to cheer about today. Thank you very much. At sixth place

how do you feel after that session? Better than this morning. It was a

bit tough, the final round did not come together, but it was a good

session. We know that Renault are trying to give you a bit more power.

Have they managed to do that? Not as much as we were hoping for. What do

you have to do tomorrow to please much as we were hoping for. What do

your home fans? Drive a good race. That is always the target. We are

not quite sure about the weather tomorrow so it could be anything. We

are starting in a reasonable position to do well. Not as relaxed

as he was at the start of the show, but frustrated. Not getting as much

power as he would have liked. They were promised a few percent increase

in power and that is not reflecting in the performance of the car,

especially in the middle sector. How frustrating must that be for him

halfway through the season? We saw a bit more of Sebastien Vettel at

Silverstone with great overtaking. But we need to see more of that.

Silverstone was a great performance was two world champions going

wheel-to-wheel. Here the card does not seem to be comfortable. He is

frustrated with form generally over the course of the year. Although the

championship is statistically still possible, he knows this year is

about recovering will stop let's get the thoughts of Daniel Ricciardo. It

looked like you were happy in that car. Yes, I do not want to get too

excited at the fifth. It is not a disaster, but we would love to be in

excited at the fifth. It is not a the top three. The lap itself was

not too bad. Kevin just pipped me, but the step I made from Q2 up to Q3

was good and I do not know what else we could have done. The competition

between McLaren and Williams is pretty hot if you take Mercedes out

of the running? It is and it is exciting. We

of the running? It is and it is are just behind Mercedes,

of the running? It is and it is Williams seemed to have done it

again today. Williams seemed to have done it

interesting. If not the weather, the tyres. Everyone will

interesting. If not the weather, the so. Let's have a look at the grid.

Nico Rosberg will start from pole position for Mercedes head of the

similarly powered Williams of Valterri Bottas.

That is the grid for tomorrow's race. Alan has joined as now.

Standout performances? Williams maintained that momentum. Valterri

Bottas had an excellent run. I was surprised they were so close to

Mercedes, but it proves they are going to be strong through the rest

of the season. But for me in qualifying, Kevin Magnussen. To pull

it into fourth position, and it is not the best card, but he dragged it

into his best qualifying performance of the year. That was one of the

strong points. Do you agree? You seem to get his confidence back. As

his confidence was growing and he was delivering the lap time the

opposite was happening to Jenson and he was drifting that carbon like a

rally style. The combination of the upgrade and may be taking of the

FRIC suspension has played into his hands. Is that because they have

been practising different things? I am surprised they gave the upgrades

to Kevin Magnussen and not to Jenson Button. He is maybe a bit behind on

that. But on this occasion Magnussen grabbed the car, through it around

and got it into fourth. More bad luck for a Lewis Hamilton. What are

his chances tomorrow? Can he get through? Absolutely, he has got a

chance of getting a podium. Williams came from 18th to be second in

Silverstone. Why can he not do that here? It will be a bit tough. It

will be hard to get up to that position, but they have the straight

line speed. I will think that where will play a part and they will

decide tonight whether they start on 16th or in the pit lane with all the

benefits of being able to change their setup. It feels a bit cooler

now. You can listen on radio five live. Thank you very much for

watching. Nico Rosberg is in pole position.

Hamilton crashes! Hamilton has crashed in qualifying here!