Hulkenberg claims pole at Hockenheim

The champion, who is set to graduate to GP2 with ART and will miss next month's Macau Grand Prix, pipped Christian Vietoris and Edoardo Mortara to the top spot by less than a tenth of a second in the final laps of the session.

Hulkenberg went ahead early on but was pushed down to third at one point as Renger van der Zande and Vietoris each had a turn at the top following their first laps on a second set of tyres.

But Hulkenberg responded on his second set of tyres to continue his domination of the series with his sixth pole of the year.

"With the first set of tyres I was second, but I absolutely wanted to set the fastest time, I tried everything and it worked out," said Hulkenberg. "By being fastest six times, I have shown that I am as good as anyone in qualifying."

Mortara returned to form now that the title is out of his reach and is well placed to defend his second place in the standings from Jules Bianchi and Mika Maki with third on the grid. Van der Zande ended up fourth, with Bianchi fifth and Stefano Coletti completing the top six.

Maki will have his work cut out to close the nine points between him and Mortara from eighth on the grid, behind Koudai Tsukakoshi, while Britons James Jakes and Sam Bird round out the top ten.

Series debutants Oliver Oakes and Frederic Vervisch qualified 25th and 27th respectively.

Pos Driver                 Team              Time        Gap    Laps
 1. Nico Hulkenberg        ART               1:33.218             15
 2. Christian Vietoris     Mucke             1:33.296    +0.078   15
 3. Edoardo Mortara        Signature         1:33.307    +0.089   17
 4. Renger van der Zande   Prema             1:33.450    +0.232   16
 5. Jules Bianchi          ART               1:33.483    +0.265   15
 6. Stefano Coletti        Prema             1:33.665    +0.447   16
 7. Koudai Tsukakoshi      Manor             1:33.713    +0.495   17
 8. Mika Maki              Mucke             1:33.824    +0.606   16
 9. James Jakes            ART               1:33.837    +0.619   15
10. Sam Bird               Manor             1:33.844    +0.626   17
11. Dani Clos              Prema             1:33.874    +0.656   16
12. Jean-Karl Vernay       Signature         1:34.003    +0.785   16
13. Robert Wickens         Signature         1:34.056    +0.838   15
14. Richard Philippe       SG                1:34.105    +0.887   16
15. Daniel Campos-Hull     HBR               1:34.174    +0.956   17
16. Erik Janis             Mucke             1:34.182    +0.964   16
17. Yann Clairay           SG                1:34.234    +1.016   15
18. Kazuya Oshima          Manor             1:34.307    +1.089   11
19. Franck Mailleux        Signature         1:34.316    +1.098   16
20. Brendon Hartley        Carlin            1:34.404    +1.186   15
21. Henkie Waldschmidt     SG                1:34.445    +1.227   15
22. Jon Lancaster          ART               1:34.525    +1.307   15
23. Franky Cheng           RC                1:34.871    +1.653   16
24. Basil Shaaban          HBR               1:34.947    +1.729   15
25. Oliver Oakes           Carlin            1:35.120    +1.902   16
26. Jens Klingmann         RC                1:35.124    +1.906   15
27. Frederic Vervisch      RC                1:35.924    +2.706   12
28. Stephane Richelmi      Barazi-Epsilon    1:36.612    +3.394   14