Mark Webber takes pole at the Nüburgring

Under a threatening sky, the cars set off quickly for the qualifying session. If Sebastian Vettel shows himself at the forefront, Lewis Hamilton confirms his good weekend at the Nürburgring, improving in quick succession the times achieved so far (1:31:473). The German regains his position (1:31:430) but his teammate Mark Webber, very competitive in Germany, gets back in front (1:31:257). For his part, Fernando Alonso marks a nice second time. Sebastian Bourdais, 20th, cannot improve due to the rain which falls at the end of Q1. He is eliminated, along with Kubica, Buemi, Glock and Fisichella.

Rain still threatens in Q2 and falls intermittently, which complicates the teams' choice of tires. A first burst of drivers sets off on a dry track, with drops of rain falling on the track. But this one, too slippery, sends the pilots into error. The single-seaters are therefore equipped with rain tires and the times are much less impressive. Everyone sets a time before putting on slick tires on a drying track. In this game, Barrichello is the smartest and achieves a good time (1:34:455). Other drivers, usually not at the party, like Piquet and Sutil, did the right thing. As for Fernando Alonso, his search for the perfect time takes place on a wet track again, so he cannot qualify in Q3, just like Heidfeld, Nakajima, Trulli and Rosberg.

During the last phase, the ten qualifiers wait until the end of the session to set times, in order to benefit from a drier track. The last two minutes of Q3 are the liveliest, with each driver lowering their benchmark. First it was Lewis Hamilton who thought he would win pole (1), Jenson Button not managing to surprise him (32), nor Rubens Barrichello (616) . But a driver is extremely motivated by the idea of ​​taking first place. Mark Webber thus knocks out his rivals with a fantastic time (1'32??745). His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, fails to get close (1:32:655). The two Brawn GPs of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button finally come between the two Red Bull. On Sunday, at the start of the German Grand Prix, the leading quartet will pit the four best drivers of the season against each other. But out of order, Barrichello and Webber are more used to starting behind Button and Vettel.