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Vettel takes pole in Germany
Home favourite fastest in qualifying as Schumi misses out on Q3
Last updated: 24th July 2010
Vettel: Pipped Alonso
Sebastian Vettel claimed arguably the best pole position of his career when he topped Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the German GP.
Alonso was looking good to put an end to Red Bull's latest run of P1s in qualifying, setting the pace in both the first and second segment. But it wasn't to be.
Vettel, who was second in the early segments, clocked a 1:13.791 to edge ahead of the Spaniard, and although the double former world champion did everything he could to take the coveted grid slot, he fell 0.002s short.
"It would be interesting to see just how much it is, two thousandths of a second," beamed Vettel, who was clinching his third pole in a row.
"It was very close all session. Fernando was really strong, and the Ferraris were very competitive.
"We knew it would be a difficult session, and two thousandths of a second is not what you are looking for, so we had to push very hard and it was very exciting.
"I'm extremely happy because it's my first time on pole at home, but the challenge will come tomorrow when it will be a tough fight against the red cars."
Felipe Massa will line up in third place in Ferrari's best qualifying performance of the season, while Mark Webber is P4 ahead of the two McLarens with Jenson Button surprisingly in front of Lewis Hamilton.
Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello, Nico Rosberg and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten, the latter actually pushing Michael Schumacher out of the fight for pole position in Q2.
Meanwhile, qualifying ran a few minutes longer than usual as it was stopped in Q1 when Tonio Liuzzi suffered a huge impact on the pit straight.
The Force India driver put his wheels onto the astroturf through the final corner and was flung across the track, crashing heavily into the barriers.
However, it is team-mate Adrian Sutil who was handed a five-place grid penalty after the team was forced to change his gearbox following a driveshaft failure in morning practice.
He managed 14th place during afternoon qualifying and will therefore start Sunday's race from 19th place on the grid.
Times
01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:13.791
02. Alonso Ferrari 1:13.793
03. Massa Ferrari 1:14.290
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:14.347
05. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.427
06. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:14.566
07. Kubica Renault 1:15.079
08. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:15.109
09. Rosberg Mercedes 1:15.179
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:15.339
11. Schumacher Mercedes 1:15.026
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.084
13. Petrov Renault 1:15.307
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:15.467
15. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:15.550
16. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.588
17. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:15.974
18. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:17.583
19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:18.300
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:18.343
21. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:18.592
22. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:18.952
23. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1:19.844
24. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth
Germany grand prix:today at 1200 gmt