German Grand Prix: Nico Rosberg gets the better of Lewis Hamilton to start from pole

Rosberg starts alongside Hamilton in an effort to win back-to-back German Grand Prixs

(Getty)

Nico Rosberg will start Sunday’s German Grand Prix from pole position after winning the first battle in his Formula 1 championship battle with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who will start alongside him in second.

Rosberg’s final qualifying run was nearly a non-starter though when an electronic glitch forced the 2014 German Grand Prix winner to abandon his first flying lap and head for the pit lane, but thankfully for the hopeful German crowd, the Mercedes team were able to correct the issue that had briefly caused a loss of power and synchronisation in the gearbox.

While Rosberg was experiencing his troubles in the garage, Hamilton took provisional pole, but when the Wiesbaden native emerged from the pit lane with his eyes set on one prize.

"It was a great lap with just the one lap that I had. It was really satisfying," Rosberg said afterwards.

A despondent Hamilton, who rejected claims that a lock-up cost him pole position, said: "It has been a good weekend with no problems. I had the pace today, but I just didn't finish it off on the last lap."

In what was arguably one of his finest qualifying laps of his career, Rosberg delivered to take a second pole position in the space of a week after his somewhat controversial lap at the Hungaroring last weekend. His pole-lap, delivered under double yellow flag conditions, triggered questions from Hamilton as well as other drivers who wanted clarity over what a driver was required to do should a similar situation occur, but there was to be no repeat at Hockenheim as all 22 drivers kept on the track throughout the session.

Having dropped off the calendar last season, Hockenheim is certainly proving a happy hunting ground for Rosberg after he won here two years ago, and he clearly holds an advantage over Hamilton in his homeland having topped all three practice sessions.

Nico Rosberg in action during qualifying for the German Grand Prix (Getty)

After escaping a possible sanction for an unsafe release in third practice after being sent out of the garage right in front of Romain Grosjean, Hamilton had to make do with second place and will be hopeful of a similar launch off the grid as he experienced at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Second will be a lot sweeter than 12th though, given Hamilton was at risk of a third reprimand for the Grosjean incident that would have resulted in a 10-place grid penalty. Instead, the stewards elected to fine Mercedes €10,000 [£8,500] for being at fault.

Daniel Ricciardo won the battle of the Red Bulls to take third, with Max Verstappen confirming that the Austrian outfit have the better of Ferrari once again, with Kimi Raikkonen outpacing home favourite Sebastian Vettel on the third row.

Vettel has looked uncomfortable throughout the weekend, with Raikkonen managing to coax the Ferrari around the Hockenheim track much smoother than his four-time world champion teammate, and with the pressure firmly on Ferrari to deliver after a disappointing year, seeing the two Red Bulls ahead of them will be another bitter pill to swallow.

Force India once again proved to have the pace to rival Williams as Nico Hulkenberg took seventh and Sergio Perez ninth, leaving Valtteri Bottas in a Force India sandwich in eighth and his teammate Felipe Massa rounding out the top 10. However, some four hours after qualifying finished, Hulkenberg was given a one-place grid penalty for using a set of tyres that were meant for third practice, promoting Bottas to seventh.

Jenson Button will have been disappointed not to make the top 10 shootout, but he can at least take solace in out-qualifying his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso with the world champion pairing 12th and 13th respectively, with the Spaniard moving up a position after Carlos Sainz was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Massa during Q2.

It means that Jolyon Palmer will move up to 14th once Grosjean also takes a five-place penalty for a gearbox change, and it proved to be a rare good day for the Renault rookie, having pipped his teammate, Kevin Magnussen, to reach Q2.

Final Positions after Qualifying:

1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1min 14.363secs

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:14.470

3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:14.726

4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:14.834

5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:15.142

6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:15.315

7 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:15.510 + one-place grid penalty

8 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:15.530

9 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:15.537

10 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:15.615

11 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 1:15.883

12 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:15.909

13 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:15.989 + three-place penalty

14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:16.041

15 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:16.086 + five place penalty

16 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:16.665

17 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:16.716

18 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 1:16.717

19 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.876

20 Rio Haryanto (Ina) Manor Racing 1:16.977

21 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.123

22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.238