Valtteri Bottas qualified his Mercedes on pole for the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring with a new lap record. Hamilton set the early pace with a time of 1:26.703, which was 0.223 of a second quicker than Bottas. When there were five minutes remaining in Q1, Perez was 15th and on the cutoff line. The fastest 15 drivers who moved on to Q2 were: Verstappen, Bottas, Hamilton, Norris, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Gasly, Ocon, Vettel, Perez, Albon, Magnussen, Kvyat, Sainz and, for the first time this season, Giovinazzi. Hamilton and Bottas were the first out, and both were on the medium compound Pirelli tires, as were both Ferrari drivers and Ricciardo. Hamilton set a 1:26.183, and Bottas turned a 1:26.954. Verstappen, on the soft slicks, jumped ahead with a 1:25.720. Hamilton was now second ahead of Albon, Norris, Ocon, Sainz and Perez with eight minutes remaining. The fastest 10 drivers who moved on to Q3 were: Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Albon, Norris, Perez, Sainz and Ocon. Albon was fourth ahead of Leclerc, Ocon, Norris, Sainz and Ricciardo. Verstappen, who lacked grip, dropped to third ahead of Leclerc, Albon, Ricciardo, Ocon, Norris, Perez and Sainz.

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