Lewis Hamilton, 34, of Mercedes secured his 87th career pole at the Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Großer Preis von Deutschland 2019 at Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This was after both Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel, 32, and Charles Leclerc, 21, suffered mechanical issues at the 2019 German Grand Prix.
Throughout practice at Hockenheim, the Italian team had been the fastest. Unfortunately, an engine problem stopped Sebastian Vettel from setting a lap time while the car of Charles Leclerc suffered from a fuel-system issue.
Vettel was not able to set a Q1 time within the 107 percent requirement. He is set to start his home race from the back of the grid while Leclerc will line up in 10th.
Mercedes struggled for pace all weekend. But in absence of the two Ferrari drivers, Hamilton romped to the front to take pole. Joining the British driver on the front row is Max Verstappen, 21, of Red Bull racing-Honda while Valtteri Bottas, 29, of Mercedes is set to line up from third.
Just minutes into Q1, Vettel had to nurse back his Ferrari car to the pits. However, he did not emerge again.
In the absence of Vettel, Leclerc was the favorite to claim the third pole of his career. Before Q3, however, Ferrari mechanics all over the back of Leclerc’s car were having issues.
“I am not sure what happened to the Ferraris,” the Telegraph quoted Hamilton as saying. “This is a second home grand prix for us so it is incredible to celebrate with this. Ferrari have been really fast and they were on another level but the time at the end would have been close to compete with Leclerc if he had set a lap.”
In the driver’s championship in the 2018 German Grand Prix, Hamilton took first place from Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen, 39, of Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas, 29, of Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo, 30, of Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer were third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Meanwhile, here is Trevor Noah’s interview with Hamilton in 2018:
CONAN Daily 