Hamilton pips Vettel to pole in Germany
July 6, 2013 -- Updated 1709 GMT (0109 HKT)
Lewis Hamilton (center) finished top of qualifying at the Nurburgring on Saturday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's German Grand Prix from pole position
- British driver won last F1 race held at Nurburgring back in 2011
- Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel joins Hamilton on front row of grid
- Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen will start third and fourth respectively
(CNN) -- Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's German Grand Prix from the front of the grid after a stunning lap at the end of qualifying on Saturday at the Nurburgring.
The Briton's time of one minute 29.398 seconds saw him finish 0.103 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel to the delight of his German-owned team.
"We were so far off this morning that we took the set-up back to where we started, tried to analyze everything and just worked really hard to improve it. I'm so grateful for the work the engineers and mechanics did for me, and it's all down to them really," Hamilton said.
Read: F1 interactive circuits/results
Designing Formula One tires
Reigning world champion Vettel has yet to win his home grand prix is upbeat about his chances on Sunday.
"We had a good run yesterday looking at the race, so I think we have done our homework. We have put the car on the first row; it wasn't quite enough for pole position, but we should have a good race from there tomorrow," Vettel said.
His teammate Mark Webber finished qualifying in third ahead of Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
Fernando Alonso, who is currently 21 points behind Vettel in the drivers' championship, will start in eighth.
Read: Feeling unsafe? 'Don't drive' says world champion Vettel
Germany's Nico Rosberg, winner at Silverstone last weekend, will start Sunday's race down in 11th place after a misjudgment by his Mercedes team who didn't send him out for a second timed lap at the end of Q2.
"I didn't see it coming and we just underestimated how much the track would ramp up in terms of grip and lap time. I could have been on the front row today and that's why I'm so disappointed," Rosberg said.
There were no tire problems on Saturday following six blowouts at the British Grand Prix last weekend.
Read: Rosberg negotiates tire chaos to win British Grand Prix
The Grand Prix Drivers Association has threatened to boycott Sunday's race should a repeat of last weekend's six blowouts at Silverstone occur. Formula One's official tire supplier Pirelli have modified its rear tires with a Kevlar strip to help prevent punctures.
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