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German GP Qualifying: Nico Rosberg on pole after Lewis Hamilton error

Lewis' mistake costs him two tenths; Ricciardo third ahead of Verstappen; Vettel just sixth

Nico Rosberg has claimed pole position for his home race at the German GP after a mistake by Lewis Hamilton on his final flying lap.

Hamilton will start the race alongside Rosberg on the front row but missed out on pole by a tenth after locking up into Turn Six on his final flying run.

Rosberg was restricted to just a single timed lap in Q3 after an electronics issue on his first run meant he had to abort his opening attempt to claim pole.

Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe revealed Rosberg was still carrying an extra lap's worth of fuel when he crossed the line with a benchmark time of 1:14.363 for his 27th career pole in F1 - exactly thirty years to the day after his father, Keke, secured his last pole position in the sport. 

"It was a great feeling, a great lap," said Rosberg. "It was a good battle. I just focused on that one lap. It happens quite naturally and it's important to make it happen in such moments."

Hamilton was beaten to pole by Rosberg in Budapest a week ago only to win the race after a quicker getaway and take the lead of the world championship for the first time in 2016.

"Only one car can go through Turn One, so it's whoever gets there first," the world champion responded.

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Daniel Ricciardo increased his qualifying lead over Max Verstappen to 7-1 by securing third ahead of his Red Bull team-mate for the team's third consecutive second-row lockout ahead of Ferrari.

But Ricciardo will have to start Sunday's race on tyres six laps old after setting his fastest time in Q2 on his second run on the same compound. 

Ferrari's struggles, meanwhile, show no sign of abating. Sebastian Vettel was beaten to fifth by Kimi Raikkonen, a deserved result for the Finn given his superior pace all weekend, but the wider context revealed the Scuderia to be almost a second slower than Mercedes on one of the shortest laps of the year. With Ferrari and Red Bull currently just a point apart in the Constructors' Championship, the likelihood is that F1's most famous outfit will enter the mid-season break in a lowly third and fighting off talk of a crisis.

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Neither McLaren made it through to the top ten although Jenson Button did have the consolation of out-qualifying Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard blamed Vettel for holding him up on his final run.

Esteban Gutierrez, who has out-qualified Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean four times in the last seven races will line up eleventh.

2016 German Grand Prix grid in full

Further back, there was more misery for Daniil Kvyat. Having started the year in a Red Bull and on the podium at China, Kvyat is now in grave danger of losing his seat with Toro Rosso at the end of the year.

Few in the paddock now believe Pierre Gasly isn't being lined up to replace Kvyat for 2017 - with the Russian's miserable Q1 demotion, half a second down on team-mate Carlos Sainz, doing little to silence the doubters.

"I don't know what's going on at the moment," a distraught Kvyat told Sky F1 afterwards. "I think I need more than a summer break."

F1 can be a brutally cruel business. 

German GP qualifying

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:14.363

2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:14.470

3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:14.726

4. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 1:14.834

5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:15.142

6. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:15.315

7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:15.510*

8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:15.530

9. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:15.537

10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:15.615

Q2

11. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:15.883

12. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:15.909

13. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:15.989**

14. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:16.041

15. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:16.086

16. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:16.665

Q3

17. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:16.716

18. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:16. 717

19. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:16.876

20. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:16.977

21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:17.123

22. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 1:17.238

* Hulkenberg was subsequently demoted one place for a tyre infringement.

** Sainz was subsequently demoted three places for blocking Felipe Massa during Q2. 

Watch the German GP live on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up underway at 11:30am. Or watch the race without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV. 

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