Vettel earns pole for F1 German GP

Hockenheim (Germany) : Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel of Germany earned pole position on Saturday for the Formula One German Grand Prix.

Vettel, currently first in the 2018 driver standings, set a new lap record at the Hockenheimring circuit with a time of one minute, 11.212 seconds, reports Efe.

This was Vettel's 55th career pole position, and gives him a strong opportunity to increase his eight-point advantage in the driver standings over his main rival, defending champion Lewis Hamilton of Britain (Mercedes).

Hamilton will start Sunday's race from the 14th spot, after being forced to quit the first qualifying session due to a suspected hydraulic problem.

Vettel, a four-time world champion, will be joined in the first row by Valtteri Bottas of Finland (Mercedes).

Ferrari's other driver, Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, placed third and is to start from the second row beside Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who finished fourth.

Spain's Fernando Alonso (McLaren), a two-time world champion, was eliminated from the second qualifying round and will start the race from the 11th spot.