Lewis Hamilton can thank his lucky stars after claiming pole position for the German Grand Prix.
Qualifying became a race of attrition as Mercedes were the last team standing after technical issues impacted both Ferraris and Max Verstappen during the session.
For Sebastian Vettel, a turbo issue would leave him unable to take part in Q1, meaning he will start last for Sunday’s race.
While Charles Leclerc appeared a strong favourite for pole before a fuel system issue kept him in the garage for Q3, dropping the Monegasque to 10th.
That paved the way for Hamilton to emerge and claim what appeared to be an unlikely pole initially, setting a 1m11.767s on his first run.
Unlike the Scuderia, Verstappen had no lasting effects from a scare in Q2 and would split the two Mercedes’ in second for Red Bull.
Valtteri Bottas would settle for third with Pierre Gasly behind in fourth.
The Frenchman was only just clear of the midfield, however, with Kimi Raikkonen putting in a brilliant lap to claim fifth for Alfa Romeo.
Romain Grosjean gave Haas reason for optimism in sixth, while Carlos Sainz might feel a little disappointed in seventh for McLaren.
Completing the top 10 will be former teammates Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg for Racing Point and Renault respectively.
Q2
Mercedes turned up the wick with Hamilton and Bottas setting low 1m12’s on the medium compound tyre.
Leclerc would be slightly compromised by an error on his first lap before splitting the two Silver Arrows in second.
There was brief trouble for Verstappen as he reported a loss of power on his first run, but a quick stop in the pits would fix the issue and the Dutchman secured his place in the top 10 using the soft rubber.
In the dash for Q3, just 0.033s would cover the six cars from P8 to P13.
At one end would be Nico Hulkenberg as he and Sergio Perez produced last efforts to make the cut. That would be at the expense of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kevin Magnussen.
Daniel Ricciardo also briefly sat in the top 10 before dropping down to 13th in the closing seconds.
Daniil Kvyat followed in 14th for Toro Rosso as Lance Stroll finally ended his 14-race Q1 exit streak but could still do no better than 15th in the Racing Point.
Q1
The big story was the problems for Vettel, as the German reported a problem over the radio on the out-lap.
Ferrari completed a quick investigation before declaring an issue with the turbo that could not be fixed in time, resigning him to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race.
It was plain-sailing for teammate Leclerc, however, as he led the session comfortably from Verstappen.
Mercedes struggled on their first runs as both Hamilton and Bottas only set representative times on their second attempt.
Both went out again as a precaution but were safe as only a second covered the top 15.
Another surprise was Lando Norris in 16th for McLaren, who may well face a penalty after holding up Alex Albon on his final run.
The Toro Rosso driver would finish right behind the Briton in 17th.
Finally, the two Williams came 18th and 19th, with George Russell continued his domination of Robert Kubica in qualifying, albeit with only a tenth between them.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
