Nico Rosberg has laid down the marker for the German Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his teammate and rival Lewis Hamilton to notch up pole position for Sunday's race.
In a dramatic qualifying session, Rosberg beat his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.107 seconds, with Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull finishing third. Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen finished fourth while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Of course, pole position is no guarantee of winning, when Hamilton is right behind you. At Hungary too, Rosberg had started in front, but was overtaken at the very first turn, with the result that the Briton now leads the German 192-186 in championship points.
Hamilton is on a roll at the moment, winning three races back-to-back but on home territory, Rosberg is back in the running. But there was controversy in Hungarong after the qualifying rounds. Despite double yellow flags being waved, the German went on to register his fastest lap time.
Hamilton's response to this was to talk to FIA race director Charlie Whiting, which came under scrutiny from Mercedes boss Paddy Lowe, who called it a "misjudgement" on Hamilton's part. Lowe was quoted by Sky Sports as saying, "It is my understanding that Lewis did go and see Charlie but it wasn't in any way to seek a review of Nico's lap – it was for his own understanding of what should be done in the future, how that should work for him in the future. I think that was regrettable."
