Story highlights
Nico Rosberg claims pole at German Grand Prix
Rosberg competing in home Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton second on grid
The Hockenheimring was home sweet home for Nico Rosberg Saturday as the Mercedes driver claimed pole position at the German Grand Prix ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Rosberg had previously spoken of his desire to put on a show for his fellow countrymen and women in the stands after the disappointment of finishing second in Hungary last week
And the Wiesbaden-born driver did just that as he pipped Hamilton, who was second fastest, by 0.107 seconds on his final qualifying lap of the day.
Rosberg’s time was all the more impressive given his team later revealed his car was heavily fueled.
His first run in Q3 was also sabotaged by electrical issues.
Read: Hamilton takes Hungarian Grand Prix
“It was a great feeling, just a great lap,” Rosberg told reporters.
“I had fuel for three laps, so that was some more time in the bag there. I was really satisfied with that one.” he added.
Red Bull pair, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, were third and fourth fastest respectively.
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen recorded the fifth fastest time of the day followed by his teammate, and another home favorite, Sebastian Vettel.
Nico Hulkenberg of Force India will begin Sunday’s race in seventh position while Valtteri Bottas of Williams will start in eighth.
Sergio Perez in the second Force India and Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Williams will take up ninth and tenth positions on the grid respectively.
Hamilton has won the last three races, after a poor start to the season by his standards, and now heads the driver’s championship ahead of Rosberg.
The three-time world champion stated after the race that he was frustrated by some small driver errors on his final run that made it difficult to challenge Rosberg’s pace.
But the big picture remains positive for the British driver.
Read: 2016 Formula One standings
“It’s been a good mid-stint of the season,” Hamilton said of his recent hot-streak.
“Hopefully tomorrow we get the first or second and that’ll still be great. We’ll still be in good position,” he added.