Yahoo Autos Rosberg Beats Out Hamilton for Home GP Pole
Lewis Hamilton may still have him beat in races, but in qualifying, Nico Rosberg's finally getting his speed back.
Rosberg's German Grand Prix pole is his second in a row, but despite beating teammate Hamilton at a crucial time, his runner-up finish in last weekend's Hungarian GP after a disastrous start doesn't leave reason for optimism. All he has to do is win again and he'll retake the championship lead no matter what his rival does, but if he has any hope of winning, he'll have to get off the line cleanly and hold off the only driver he's struggled to beat for the full race length.
If it's any solace for Rosberg, at least he's not likely to have to worry about his countryman and nearest non-team rival Sebastian Vettel. With both of Red Bull's two cars and freshly re-signed teammate Kimi Raikkonen outqualifying him, a dissappointing sixth may be too far down the grid for Vettel to have any hope of catching the leaders at the often processional Hockenheimring without some tricky strategy.
In the ever-competitive battle for seventh, Force India and Williams make it a Q3 lockout for the top five teams in the championship standings. Esteban Guttierez was just two tenths of a second from getting his Haas F1 entry into the final session of knockout qualifying, but he and the rest of a mid-pack that seems to get more and more competitive every week have to settle for starting positions outside of the top ten.
The Grand Prix of Germany starts at 5:00 AM EST on Sunday.
