McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has realised what few thought him capable of doing this weekend: he split the two Red Bulls in qualifying.
Mark Webber had the best of teammate Sebastian Vettel this time around, taking the pole and leaving third for the championship leader.
Hamilton surprised everyone this Saturday afternoon as it was the Ferraris that were expected to be the main challengers of the Red Bulls in Germany despite the return of the off-throttle blown diffusers.
If Fernando Alonso was right behind Vettel and Webber in the final morning practice, he had to settle for fourth only in qualifying, just ahead of teammate Felipe Massa.
The other McLaren car of Jenson Button is likely were most experts were expecting the team to be: in seventh position, just behind the Mercedes car of Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg's teammate Michael Schumacher chose to save his tires and settled for 10th. Adrian Sutil and Vitaly Petrov also made this conscious decision and took eighth and ninth respectively.
The qualifying session remained dry but cool with grey clouds surrounding the track but never letting rain slip through.
Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany - Qualifying results:
Pos No Driver Team Q1Q2Q3 Laps
1 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:33.0961:31.3111:30.079 18
2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.9341:30.9981:30.134 15
3 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:32.9731:31.0171:30.216 16
4 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:32.9161:31.1501:30.442 16
5 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.8261:31.5821:30.910 19
6 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.7851:31.3431:31.263 22
7 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.2241:31.5321:31.288 14
8 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:32.2861:31.8091:32.010 18
9 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:33.1871:31.9851:32.187 16
10 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:32.6031:32.1801:32.482 18
11 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:32.5051:32.21516
12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:32.6511:32.56015
13 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:33.0031:32.63513
14 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:33.6641:33.04318
15 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.2951:33.17614
16 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:33.6351:33.54611
17 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:33.6581:33.69811
18 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.7865
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:35.5999
20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.40012
21 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1:36.42211*
22 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.64112
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:37.01111**
24 22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1:37.03611
* Replacing Jarno Trulli
** Will suffer additional five-place grid-penalty for gearbox change
Q1 107% Time 1:38.253
Unofficial Results
Mark Webber had the best of teammate Sebastian Vettel this time around, taking the pole and leaving third for the championship leader.
Hamilton surprised everyone this Saturday afternoon as it was the Ferraris that were expected to be the main challengers of the Red Bulls in Germany despite the return of the off-throttle blown diffusers.
If Fernando Alonso was right behind Vettel and Webber in the final morning practice, he had to settle for fourth only in qualifying, just ahead of teammate Felipe Massa.
The other McLaren car of Jenson Button is likely were most experts were expecting the team to be: in seventh position, just behind the Mercedes car of Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg's teammate Michael Schumacher chose to save his tires and settled for 10th. Adrian Sutil and Vitaly Petrov also made this conscious decision and took eighth and ninth respectively.
The qualifying session remained dry but cool with grey clouds surrounding the track but never letting rain slip through.
Formula 1 Grand Prix of Germany - Qualifying results:
Pos No Driver Team Q1Q2Q3 Laps
1 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:33.0961:31.3111:30.079 18
2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.9341:30.9981:30.134 15
3 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:32.9731:31.0171:30.216 16
4 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:32.9161:31.1501:30.442 16
5 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.8261:31.5821:30.910 19
6 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.7851:31.3431:31.263 22
7 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.2241:31.5321:31.288 14
8 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:32.2861:31.8091:32.010 18
9 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:33.1871:31.9851:32.187 16
10 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:32.6031:32.1801:32.482 18
11 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:32.5051:32.21516
12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:32.6511:32.56015
13 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:33.0031:32.63513
14 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:33.6641:33.04318
15 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.2951:33.17614
16 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:33.6351:33.54611
17 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:33.6581:33.69811
18 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.7865
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:35.5999
20 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.40012
21 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1:36.42211*
22 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:36.64112
23 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1:37.01111**
24 22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1:37.03611
* Replacing Jarno Trulli
** Will suffer additional five-place grid-penalty for gearbox change
Q1 107% Time 1:38.253
Unofficial Results