German on top at the Nurburgring

Nico Hülkenberg grabbed pole position today at the Nurburgring with a strong drive in changeable conditions, taking the top spot by less than a tenth from Roldan Rodriguez and Lucas di Grassi. The German's best lap of 1:38.161 came after a session-long battle with his rivals for the top spot when he found a clear track with just five minutes remaining to edge his way past. With rain spotting the track as the session opened all of the drivers were immediately out to save a banker lap, but with the weather immediately easing everyone stayed out as long as they could on  their  first  set  of  tyres  to  see  what  they  could  claim. 

 Luca  Filippi,  Javier  Villa,  di  Grassi  and Hülkenberg swapped the top spot between them in the opening minutes, but with the Brazilian on top as they returned for fresh rubber it seemed as though the fight was effectively over. Rodriguez was the first man back on track and was soon pushing hard: a few minutes later he was on top of the timesheets but Hülkenberg was on the attack, claiming the top spot just before Filippi,  who  was  also  on  a  hot  lap,  went  too  fast  into  the  chicane  and  lost  the  rear  of  his  car, spinning and stopping in the middle of the island and prompting yellow flags in the process. With the difference at the front being just 0.089 the German pushed for more on the final clear lap,  but  just  missed  out  on  improving  his  time.  It  was  enough,  however,  but  with  the  top  three followed by Pastor Maldonado, Villa, Andreas Zuber, Vitaly Petrov and Diego Nunes today's race promises to bring the heat to a very cold Nurburgring.

Nürburgring – Qualifications

Driver Team Time Laps

1. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:38.161 15

2. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:38.250 15

3. Lucas di Grassi Fat Burner racing Eng. 1:38.320 14

4. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:38.618 14

5. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:38.733 15

6. Andreas Zuber FMSI 1:38.852 16

7. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team 1:38.888 15

 8. Diego Nunes iSport International 1:38.924 14

9. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:39.014 15

10. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden International 1:39.018 15

11. Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 1:39.094 15

12. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:39.105 11

13. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:39.114 13

14. Romain Grosjean Barwa Addax Team 1:39.122 15

15. Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:39.301 15

16. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:39.345 15

17. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:39.354 15

18. Michael Herck DPR 1:39.439 15

19. Jérôme d’Ambrosio DAMS 1:39.441 17

20 Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:39.480 16

21. Giedo van der Garde iSport International 1:39.774 15

22. Franck Perera DPR 1:40.509 15

23. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:40.703 16

24. Nelson Panciatici Durango 1:40.848 15

25 Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:41.613 14

26. Luiz Razia FMSI 1:41.969 8