From press release
Nico Rosberg took an easy pole position, Saturday ahead of the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, as his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the qualifying session.
The two drivers usually have themselves as main opponents in the fight for pole, but this time Hamilton was taken out by a brake failure in Q1. The Brit was going in Turn 13 with his right front disc let go.
He crashed heavily and was sore from the impact. But he will be available to race on Sunday.
Mercedes is investigating what happened, having fitted a new set of discs just this morning.
"It’s just not acceptable to have a brake disc fail in that way after we fitted a new set this morning," said Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff. "We have to find out what we do about it. We will assess the car and see what the damage is in the end."
Rosberg, whose Mercedes W05 was fitted with different brake material, is joined on the front row by Williams' Valtteri Bottas.
"The car was feeling great today," said the Finn. "The Mercedes are still a bit quicker than us, but we are going to work hard tomorrow to get in front but it will be difficult."
Qualifying results* – German Grand Prix (round 10 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'16"540 - Q3
2.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'16"759 - Q3
3.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'17"078 - Q3
4.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'17"214 - Q3
5.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'17"273 - Q3
6.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'17"577 - Q3
7.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'17"649 - Q3
8.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'17"965 - Q3
9.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'18"014 - Q3
10.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'18"035 - Q3
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'18"193 - Q2
12.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'18"273 - Q2
13.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'18"285 - Q2
14.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'18"983 - Q2
15.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'18"683 - no time - Q2 ***
16.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'19"142 - Q1
17.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'18"787 - Q2 **
18.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'19"676 - Q1
19.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'20"195 - Q1
20.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'20"408 - Q1
21.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'20"489 - Q1
22.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - no time - Q1
*Unofficial results
**Three-place grid penalty
*** Hamilton may have to start from the pitlane after his crash
Nico Rosberg took an easy pole position, Saturday ahead of the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, as his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton crashed out of the qualifying session.
The two drivers usually have themselves as main opponents in the fight for pole, but this time Hamilton was taken out by a brake failure in Q1. The Brit was going in Turn 13 with his right front disc let go.
He crashed heavily and was sore from the impact. But he will be available to race on Sunday.
Mercedes is investigating what happened, having fitted a new set of discs just this morning.
"It’s just not acceptable to have a brake disc fail in that way after we fitted a new set this morning," said Mercedes Motorsport boss Toto Wolff. "We have to find out what we do about it. We will assess the car and see what the damage is in the end."
Rosberg, whose Mercedes W05 was fitted with different brake material, is joined on the front row by Williams' Valtteri Bottas.
"The car was feeling great today," said the Finn. "The Mercedes are still a bit quicker than us, but we are going to work hard tomorrow to get in front but it will be difficult."
Qualifying results* – German Grand Prix (round 10 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'16"540 - Q3
2.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'16"759 - Q3
3.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'17"078 - Q3
4.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'17"214 - Q3
5.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'17"273 - Q3
6.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'17"577 - Q3
7.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'17"649 - Q3
8.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'17"965 - Q3
9.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'18"014 - Q3
10.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'18"035 - Q3
11.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'18"193 - Q2
12.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'18"273 - Q2
13.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'18"285 - Q2
14.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'18"983 - Q2
15.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'18"683 - no time - Q2 ***
16.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'19"142 - Q1
17.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'18"787 - Q2 **
18.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'19"676 - Q1
19.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'20"195 - Q1
20.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'20"408 - Q1
21.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'20"489 - Q1
22.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - no time - Q1
*Unofficial results
**Three-place grid penalty
*** Hamilton may have to start from the pitlane after his crash