It had been scorching hot at Hockenheim Ring during the first free practices, as temperature had climbed up to unusual 38 degrees Celsius. By the time of the qualifying though, the temperature had "cooled down", as there were "only" 28 degrees. Hot weather anticipated trouble for Mercedes.
Against the odds, it was a whole different team, that was in trouble on the German soil. As home hero Sebastian came out in Q1, he immediately reported on the team radio, that he was lacking power. The issue forced Sebastian to return to the pits with no time set. It was a sad and frustrating moment, as Sebastian had shown excellent pace in the free practices, having topped the first session. There really seems to be some kind of a curse in terms of Sebastian and his home race. The issue was turbo-related, and the team proved unable to fix it, which meant, that Sebastian was out of qualifying. Meanwhile, the Mercedes duo came out at the halfway point of the first session. However, they were other guys, who were topping the time sheets. Ferrari ace Leclerc went fastest, with Red Bull's Verstappen second. Kimi showed superb performance at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo, and the Iceman was in stunning P3 after the first runs. The other Finn Bottas could only make it fourth. Teammate Hamilton seemed to struggle to get a good lap together, but with three minutes remaining, the reigning world champion jumped third. Red Bull's Gasly also continued his good performances, and went fourth fastest at the closing stages of the first session. Alongside unfortunate Sebastian, out of Q2 were McLaren's Norris, Toro Rosso's Albon and the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica.
Very predictably, the Mercedes drivers and Leclerc, the only driver representing the Red Team at this point, came out on the yellow-walled more durable rubber. Hamilton set the fastest lap time on his first attempt, but Charles was only a tenth down. Bottas, who hadn't quite found the rhythm yet, was third. Red Bull sent Verstappen out on the mediums as well, but the Dutchman hit trouble on his first flyer. He had an engine-related issue, and he had to pit, with no time set. Teammate Gasly, on the other hand, came out on the softs, and went third fastest. The team managed to fix Verstappen's issue, and the flying Dutchman came out on the soft compound at the end of the second session, ending up fourth in the standings. The red and white Alfa Romeo seemed to come alive in the experienced hands of the Iceman. Kimi jumped sixth at the end of the session, meanwhile teammate Giovinazzi was unable to make it within the top ten. The pecking order was quite mixed, as Mercedes and Red Bull were the only teams with both drivers among the top ten. In addition to Giovinazzi, Haas' Magnussen, Renault's Ricciardo, Toro Rosso's Kvyat and Racing Point's Stroll were eliminated from the last segment.
Leclerc seemed to be a serious contender to challenge the Mercedes duo for pole. But there was something worrying happening in Charles' pit box, as the last session was about to get underway. There were mechanics working on the right side of Charles' SF90, which indicated problems. And soon it became obvious, that the issue in the fuel system was so severe, that Charles' qualifying was over! I couldn't believe, that both red cars were out of qualifying due to reliability issues! Absolutely unforgivable! Hamilton had it easy to lay his hands on the provisional pole, with Verstappen second and Bottas third. The gap between the Silver Arrows was surprisingly big, as Bottas was almost half a second off his teammate. Due to having only one fresh set of softs left, both Kimi and Hulkenberg made one run only. And Kimi made a spectacular job, making it fifth, only 0.016s down on Gasly! The second runs didn't change the order of the top four. Although Mercedes were struggling with their pace in the heat, once again Hamilton made it on pole. Verstappen completed the front row, with Bottas third and Gasly fourth. Grosjean was 6th for Haas, Sainz 7th for McLaren, Perez 8th for Racing Point and Hulkenberg 9th for Renault. Having set no time, Charles was left in P10 on the grid.
Ferrari are shooting themselves in the leg. They had the upper hand coming to this weekend. They could have had pole in their hands! And they threw it away. Reliability issues like this are unforgivable! Even one car out of qualifying is bad, but two cars out is a catastrophy! I feel so frustrated. It doesn't matter, whether Mercedes are setting the pace or struggling to find it, either one of the Merc drivers still ends up on pole! Ferrari can't afford making mistakes like this! This is why they don't deserve the world championship this year. The race will be difficult... whether it's dry or it rains.
Verstappen will have a strong chance to win the race, although he's starting to the race on the soft Pirellis. But the flying Dutchman is extremely good with tyre management, so I'm sure he'll challenge Hamilton for the victory for real. I have no idea, what tomorrow's race will hold for the red-suited drivers, but I believe, that every new day is a chance for something good. Forza Ferrari!
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