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28 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 JULY 2019 FORMULA 1 SPORTS LEWIS Hamilton beat Max Verstappen to pole position at the German Grand Prix as the Ferraris hit technical prob- lems. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc looked favourite for pole but was unable to take part in the top-10 shootout. And team-mate Sebastian Vettel will start last after a turbo problem meant he failed to set a time for today's race at Hockenheim. Hamilton took pole by 0.346 seconds, with only 0.022secs between Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly. It was a superb performance by Hamilton, who has been ill this weekend. "Lewis, you never fail to amaze us," team boss Toto Wolff said to him over the ra- dio after the session. Hamilton said: "The car has been feeling good, but the Fer- raris have been on another level. If Leclerc had been there, it would definitely have been close between us." Even without the Ferraris in contention, the front row of Hamilton and Red Bull's Ver- stappen promises a close bat- tle in the race, especially as wet weather threatens. But in many ways the story of the session was Ferrari's failure yet again to capitalise on what appeared to be an advantage. Ferrari said Leclerc's prob- lem was with his fuel system, and it looked to have deprived him of what could have been his third pole position of his first season at Ferrari. It was the latest in a series of issues for Ferrari, whether with reliability or operational or driver errors, that have blight- ed a season in which they could have had at least two wins so far, and possibly more. Vettel's problem was differ- ent from Leclerc's - his car had a problem with airflow to the turbo. It was the second relia- bility problem for the German four-time world champion in three races. Ferrari's problems mean the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen will start fifth, ahead of Haas' Romain Grosjean, McLaren's Carlos Sainz, Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Leclerc. Sainz's team-mate Lando Norris was 16th, just 0.2secs down in first qualifying, but small margins made a big dif- ference on a relatively short track - for example, just 0.03secs separated Hulken- berg in eighth place from team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in 13th in second qualifying as the drivers battled for places in the top-10 shootout. Williams' George Russell starts 18th, ahead of team- mate Robert Kubica for the 11th race in a row, but this time just 0.118secs faster than the Pole. Lewis Hamilton on German GP pole as both Ferraris break down After his disappointment in qualifying Vettel said he was very bitter