German Grand Prix: Rosberg bounces back for home German GP pole

Put down to an ‘electronic error’ when coming through the Stadium, Rosberg was forced into a single lap dash with his second run but he would keep it flawless to put the benchmark out of Hamilton’s reach.

By contrast, Hamilton could blame a lock up into the hairpin for the 0.107s deficit to his Mercedes team-mate, though he remained comfortably ahead of the looming competition headed up by Red Bull.

Indeed, though Red Bull and Ferrari had threatened to play a part with some eye-catching turns in FP3, neither could ultimately get close enough to be a pole factor. Nonetheless, as they were in Hungary, Red Bull again lock out row two, Daniel Ricciardo just ahead of Max Verstappen, while Ferrari’s questionable single lap form would see Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel consigned to row three.

With just a tenth covering 7th to 10th, Nico Hulkenberg got the nod to head up row four, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez and Felipe Massa as six Mercedes-powered cars made up the top ten.

Esteban Gutierrez once again just misses out on Q3 and will lead the ‘best of the rest’ from in 11th, ahead of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, the experienced pair unable to get McLaren past Q2 for the first time since Azerbaijan in 12th and 14th respectively.

Carlos Sainz starts 13th but on a difficult day for Toro Rosso, the Spaniard could be demoted for impeding Massa during Q2, while Daniil Kvyat’s inconsistent form struck another low point as he qualified a poou 19th.

Romain Grosjean qualified 15th but will drop five positions for a gearbox change, promoting Jolyon Palmer up a spot after the Renault driver reached Q2 for the first time since Australia when the elimination format was in operation.

Towards the back, Manor just missed out on a Q2 berth with Pascal Wehrlein 18th and Rio Haryanto 20th, the Saubers completing the grid on the back row.