Hockenheim (Germany) (AFP)
One rises, the others stumble. Again ... Lewis Hamilton, who was ill, clinched the pole position of the German Grand Prix on Saturday, the 11th inning of the F1 season, in a failed qualifying session for Ferrari.
Since 2017, the scenario has become a classic. Too often, when the Scuderia is able to compete with Mercedes, she betrays herself: men or mechanics are lacking.
On the Hockenheim circuit, it was the latter that dropped: first Sebastian Vettel's engine turbo, depriving him of + + qualifiers and condemning him to the last place on the starting grid, then the fuel system Charles Leclerc, who will be content with 10th position, except penalties.
And to say that the Scuderia was favorite, rare this year, having dominated the three free practice sessions!
"It's the worst possible timing," says Vettel, "very bitter and disappointed because it's at home and the car was good."
"You have to understand what happened to prevent this from happening again," he urges. "We missed a great opportunity today, let's hope there's another tomorrow."
In 2019 alone, it is the second time, after Austria at the end of June, that the German suffers a motor problem in qualifying. Leclerc, meanwhile, saw a short circuit in the fuel injection system of his car to deprive him of success in Bahrain in late March.
- "If it rains..."
Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will start alongside Hamilton on the front row, ahead of Finland's Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and France's Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) at 15:10 (13:10 GMT) on Sunday.
"If it rains (like the weather forecast, Ed), the starting positions are not important.It will be a bit of a mess anyway," Bottas predicts.
The 2018 edition is an excellent example: trapped by the first drops, Vettel, who had won the race, finished in the barriers, leaving the victory to his British rival, yet 14th on the grid!
The Mercedes driver "loves the rain", like his counterparts at Red Bull, and it makes him feel good.
As for Ferrari, "I expect them to be strong (Sunday) if they manage to repair cars," Bottas continues. Verstappen also "sees them coming back to the forefront".
"Even if we will be able to double, the Mercedes who will leave in front will have the free road so it will be difficult to challenge them, but we will do everything we can," promises Leclerc.
- "Sore throat" -
Hamilton is less talkative. The fault of a "sore throat" that he drags since the morning and of which he has a time considered that it makes him miss the qualifications, he explained to the press of the voice of a child trying to convince his parents not to send him to school.
Except that the five-time world champion, he went there. And he will try Sunday to offer himself an eighth victory - already - in eleven races this year. For his stable, it would be the tenth (Verstappen won in Austria).
Accounting consequence, the Briton leads the drivers standings with 39 points more than his Finnish teammate, 87 more than the Dutch Red Bull, 100 more than Vettel and 103 more than Leclerc.
In the constructors, Mercedes is 164 ahead of Ferrari and 216 on Red Bull.
Fifth in qualifying, Finland's Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo Racing) took the place of "best of the rest" behind Mercedes and Red Bull. He is ahead of Frenchman Romain Grosjean (Haas), Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren), Sergio Perez of Mexico (Racing Point) and Germany's Nico Hulkenberg (Renault).
© 2019 AFP