Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) must have thought pole position for this weekend's German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring was in the bag, but that was only before Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) stormed through the top of the timing sheet with a final run in Q3.
Where the German could only manage a 1min29.501sec, Hamilton pulled off a 1min29.398sec to give his team its sixth pole position of the season.
Hamilton's teammate, Nico Rosberg, who is usually also fighting for pole, has the unfortunate victim of Mercedes' mistake in Q2, when it thought Rosberg was safe with the time he had produced. The rest of the field improved enough to knock the German out of the final segment of the qualifying session.
He sits just outside the top 10 of the grid, in 11th.
Australia's Mark Webber (Red Bull) lines up third, beside 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who could score points in a 26th straight race tomorrow. His Lotus teammate, Romain Grosjean, fell just short of his time, which means he will start fifth.
The other Australian on the grid, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo qualified an impressive sixth, ahead of the two Ferraris, led by Brazilian Felipe Massa. Whether the Scuderia's strategy to not run for the pole will pay off Sunday remains to be seen.
Jenson Button (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) made it to the top 10, but sat out Q3 to preserve their tires.
Amusingly, in the second McLaren, Sergio Perez qualified only one place ahead of fellow Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, who drives for his former team, Sauber.
Neither Williams cars made it out of Q1, but Pastor Maldonado must have been relieved just to be on track, as his KERS mysteriously went out in smoke, earlier this morning while the car was in the garage. Valtteri Bottas lines up one place in front of the Venzuelan, in 17th.
At the very tail of the field, Charles Pic (Caterham) beat Jules Bianchi (Marussia) as the fastest back-marker.
Qualifying results* – German Grand Prix (Nurburgring)
1.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'29"398 - Q3
2.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'29"501 - Q3
3.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'29"608 - Q3
4.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'29"892 - Q3
5.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'29"959 - Q3
6.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'30"528 - Q3
7.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'31"126 - Q3
8.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'31"209 - Q3
9.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
11.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'30"326 - Q2
12.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'30"697 - Q2
13.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'30"933 - Q2
14.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'31"010 - Q2
15.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'31"010 - Q2
16.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'31"104 - Q2
17.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'31"693 - Q1
18.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'31"707 - Q1
19.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"937 - Q1
20.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'33"063 - Q1
21.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'33"734 - Q1
22.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'34"098 - Q1
*Unofficial results
Where the German could only manage a 1min29.501sec, Hamilton pulled off a 1min29.398sec to give his team its sixth pole position of the season.
Hamilton's teammate, Nico Rosberg, who is usually also fighting for pole, has the unfortunate victim of Mercedes' mistake in Q2, when it thought Rosberg was safe with the time he had produced. The rest of the field improved enough to knock the German out of the final segment of the qualifying session.
He sits just outside the top 10 of the grid, in 11th.
Australia's Mark Webber (Red Bull) lines up third, beside 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, who could score points in a 26th straight race tomorrow. His Lotus teammate, Romain Grosjean, fell just short of his time, which means he will start fifth.
The other Australian on the grid, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo qualified an impressive sixth, ahead of the two Ferraris, led by Brazilian Felipe Massa. Whether the Scuderia's strategy to not run for the pole will pay off Sunday remains to be seen.
Jenson Button (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) made it to the top 10, but sat out Q3 to preserve their tires.
Amusingly, in the second McLaren, Sergio Perez qualified only one place ahead of fellow Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, who drives for his former team, Sauber.
Neither Williams cars made it out of Q1, but Pastor Maldonado must have been relieved just to be on track, as his KERS mysteriously went out in smoke, earlier this morning while the car was in the garage. Valtteri Bottas lines up one place in front of the Venzuelan, in 17th.
At the very tail of the field, Charles Pic (Caterham) beat Jules Bianchi (Marussia) as the fastest back-marker.
Qualifying results* – German Grand Prix (Nurburgring)
1.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'29"398 - Q3
2.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'29"501 - Q3
3.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'29"608 - Q3
4.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'29"892 - Q3
5.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'29"959 - Q3
6.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'30"528 - Q3
7.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'31"126 - Q3
8.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'31"209 - Q3
9.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
11.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'30"326 - Q2
12.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'30"697 - Q2
13.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'30"933 - Q2
14.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'31"010 - Q2
15.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'31"010 - Q2
16.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'31"104 - Q2
17.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'31"693 - Q1
18.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'31"707 - Q1
19.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"937 - Q1
20.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'33"063 - Q1
21.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'33"734 - Q1
22.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'34"098 - Q1
*Unofficial results