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F1: It’s Hamilton’s Pole at Hockenheim
Written by: Cassio Cortes
RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com
Hockenheim, Germany
 
Hamilton celebrated his third '08 pole after prevailing in a closely-fought duel with Massa. (LAT Photo) ยป More Photos

A session-long duel between McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa ended with the former edging ahead in the last minute, as the Briton took pole for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix at the Hockenheim circuit by beating the Brazilian by 0.2sec.

It was the third pole of the year for Hamilton, who also headed the grid in Australia and Canada.

"It has been a good day," said the Brit, who shares the championship points lead with Massa and Raikkonen. "I feel pretty chilled and happy with what we've done, but today is not where you win points, tomorrow is.

"I was quite happy with my lap to be honest," he added. "It went very smoothly. I know I had it in me and knew we had the pace. I could have gone a bit quicker if we needed to, so it was pretty cool."

After a disastrous British GP in which he spun five times in the wet, Massa denied suggestions that his performance was a recovery.

"I think it is not," he said. "I know I am quick and all my career I was quick in the wet, even in karts in the wet I won. I had a bad weekend in Silverstone, not just the race, the whole weekend was bad - what we showed here was not a recovery, but our target is be competitive and it is normal."

Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren will head row two with the improving Toyota of Jarno Trulli on his side. Renault’s Fernando Alonso completed the top-five – an impressive performance after the Spaniard was just barely able to make the cut in Q1 – while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen could do no better than sixth.

BMW’s fading qualifying performance was exemplified by Robert Kubica’s P7 and Nick Heidfeld’s failure to make it to Q3 – the German will start 12th in his home race. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was eighth, ahead of his 2009 teammate Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso, and the man Vettel himself will replace, David Coulthard.

Timo Glock in the second Toyota headed the group left stuck in Q2, ahead of Heidfeld and Williams’ Nico Rosberg. Honda’s Jenson Button was 14th,
which was better luck than teammate Rubens Barrichello, who couldn’t move past Q1 and will line up 18th. Sebastien Bourdais in the other Toro Rosso wrapped up the group of Q2 qualifiers.

Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima was the fastest among the drivers eliminated on Q1. He will have Renault’s Nelson Piquet on his side, the Brazilian being left frustrated after allegedly being blocked by Vettel in the first round. The rookie will have Barrichello and the two Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella behind him.

Download the Hockenheim Wallpaper

German Grand Prix – Qualifying results:

1) Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:15.666
2) Massa, Ferrari, 1:15.859
3) Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:16.143
4) Trulli, Toyota, 1:16.191
5) Alonso, Renault, 1:16.385
6) Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:16.389
7) Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:16.521
8) Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1:17.014
9) Vettel, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:17.244
10) Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault, 1:17.503

11) Glock, Toyota, 1:15.508
12) Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:15.581
13) Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:15.633
14) Button, Honda, 1:15.701
15) Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:15.858

16) Nakajima, Williams-Toyota, 1:16.083
17) Piquet, Renault, 1:16.189
18) Barrichello, Honda, 1:16.246
19) Sutil, Force India-Ferrari, 1:16.657
20) Fisichella, Force India-Ferrari, 1:16.963

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