Vettel felt sure of claiming pole at Hockenheim

Sebastian Vettel said that he had felt certain from early on that he would be able to claim pole position for his home Grand Prix this weekend.

Vettel set a new track record for the Hockenheimring on Saturday with a final effort of 1:11.212s, which put the Ferrari driver two tenths clear of Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas.

"I felt in Q1 that the car can do it," he revealed afterwards. "Sometimes you just know, but you still have to do it.

"I knew that for the last lap I had a little bit in me, and I was able to squeeze everything out," he added. "It just kept getting better!"

It clearly meant the world to Vettel to clinch the top spot in the German Grand Prix for the first time since 2010.

"It was amazing to see so many red flags, Ferrari flags, so much support - German flags all around the track," he said. "To do it here, just minutes away from where I come from, where I was born and grew up I think means a lot.

"Still a bit full of adrenalin, but very happy."

It's the first time that Vettel has out-qualified team mate Kimi Raikkonen at Hockenheim. The Finn ended up third-fastest at the end of the final round of qualifying.

He had briefly gone to the top of the timesheets in the closing seconds of Q3, only to be pipped in quick succession first by Bottas and then by Vettel.

"I had a small moment the first time through turn 12," Raikkonen admitted after the end of the session. "I touched the inside kerb and got sideways, so not ideal.

• Vettel takes German GP pole, Hamilton hit by hydraulic failure

"Then the second I was a bit cautious because of that," he added. "For sure there was more, but today it didn't come."

Raikkonen visibly bristled when asked whether his starting position was the ideal place to act as 'rear gunner' to protect Vettel.

"We'll try to obviously run our own race," he responded. "And we're going to race as a team.

"I think third place should be a pretty good place to start so we'll see tomorrow," he noted.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene was delighted by the performances of his two drivers in Saturday's session. However, he remained cautious ahead of the race itself.

"As I always say, points are on Sunday not on Saturday," he told Sky Sports F1.

"Having said so, Sebastian did a great, great lap - maybe it's because it's his home Grand Prix," he suggested. "And the car was good, as confirmed by the position of Kimi."

Arrivabene was sporting enough to lament the plight of Vettel's chief rival Lewis Hamilton, after the Mercedes suffered a hydraulic failure at the end of Q1 and was unable to continue.

Hamilton will line--up no better than 14th place on the grid tomorrow and it unlikely to be able to fight his way back to the front to challenge either of the two Ferraris for position.

"It's a pity for Hamilton," commented Arrivabene. "A good sport is when all the fighters are on the track. But we'll see tomorrow, tomorrow is the race."

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