Lewis Hamilton Takes the Pole in Germany, Catastrophe for Ferrari

Another disaster for Ferrari and one more pole position for Lewis Hamilton are the most important thing from today’s German GP qualifiers.

Ferrari experienced humiliation here in Germany, this time even before the race started. The Italian manufacturer had a fantastic weekend up until the start of today’s official qualifiers, but it all suddenly collapsed.

Sebastian Vettel couldn’t even leave the garage because of certain issues with the airflow which led to the turbo. The majority of the fans at Hockenheim came to watch and support their favorite. But he didn’t have a chance even to feel the track at all. This is the second time this year that Vettel fails to end the qualifiers.

Heartbreak at Ferrari today 💔

A double retirement saw Vettel out of Q1 – and Leclerc out of Q3 #F1 🇩🇪 #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/JMnaEJFcmP

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2019

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc was good until the start of Q3, when he too had to drop out due to the failure of the fuel system. Previously, Ferrari dominated each training session since Thursday, setting the bar way up higher than any other team on the circuit. For the first time since the start of the campaign, the Prancing Horse was out of reach for the Silver Arrows.

Even Lewis Hamilton admitted that following today’s qualifications.

“Ferraris have been really fast all weekend. We brought some upgrades this weekend as well. The car’s been feeling good but the Ferraris just really were slightly on another level,” said the reigning champion, who used all the troubles of his biggest rivals.

Hamilton drove his lap in 1:11.767, and behind him was Max Verstappen, who was 0.346 sec slower than the Brit. Valtteri Bottas came third with 0.362 sec of the gap between him and the young Dutchman who also had some problems but managed to make an excellent time.

Pierre Gasly was superb, and he completely forgot the crash suffered this Friday. The French driver ended fourth, making this a solid starting position for the Red Bulls. Kimi Raikkonen is near the top after a long time. The former world champion recorded the fifth-fastest time today with his Alpha Romeo.

Hamilton’s pole position was the first one for him here in the last 11 years. But that didn’t matter to him as much as the fact that his Mercedes has a delightful milestone ahead of them. This race will mark their 200th start in Formula 1. To honor that, he and Bottas are wearing specially customized uniforms, who are indeed fabulous.

Also, Mercedes is celebrating 125 years in motorsport.

“It’s such an important race for us,” said Hamilton. “This is our second home Grand Prix, Mercedes’ 125 years [in motorsport] – it’s just incredible to celebrate in this way.”

BREAKING: @LewisHamilton takes pole for Sunday's German Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas#F1 #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/mdnaqBVK8i

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2019

Meanwhile, Vettel wasn’t happy at all with the recent developments. He finally had a competitive vehicle and was better than Hamilton, but seems to run out of luck. The four-time champ was under a considerable pressure to win at home and to defend his own turf. It appears that such a thing won’t be possible now as he starts from the 20th position.

This is the year full of frustration for Ferrari’s leading driver. The expectations were high after last season, in which the Italian team showed some signs of improvement. At the moment, the glorious manufacturer hasn’t won a single race, while on the other side, their biggest rivals are dominant more than ever.

The only hope for them regarding this race is that Leclerc does something notable. The newbie is excellent and is improving from week to week.

The race starts at 2:10 PM CET.