German F3 showdown: Pantano under pressure

Series leader Giorgio Pantano (KMS Dallara-Opel), who holds a 23-point advantage over Pierre Kaffer (Team HMS Dallara-Opel), could only qualify eighth and fourth for the two races which make up the Hockenheim finale. Kaffer lines up fourth and fifth, but blew a golden chance to take pole for Sunday's race with a last-gasp mistake on what would have been the fastest lap of the session.

Third placed Andre Lotterer (BSR Dallara-Opel), who is 32 points shy of Pantano, suffered a nightmare time and could only manage 16th and 10th places on the grid. Muller (Team Ghinzani Dallara-Mugen) bagged pole and an extra three points in session one but missed out by a matter of hundredths to Frank Diefenbacher (KTM Dallara-Opel) in the second period, which decides the grid for Sunday's event. Muller, who plans to test a Champ Car next month, is 34 points behind Pantano, with 40 points still on offer.

Pantano can clinch the championship in Saturday's race, which starts at 15:15 BST (16:15 local), but is under pressure having failed to seal the crown at the Nurburgring three weeks ago.