Wehrlein delivered under pressure in front of the home crowd, taking pole position for Porsche in a mixed weather qualifying.
During the unpredictable session, Hughes crashed out in Group A and helped Rowland proceed. It is Wehrlein who will start first though, hoping to stop Rowland from clenching the championship win in Berlin.
Group Stage
Group A
Although the weather improved since the morning session, the track hadn’t fully dried. Di Grassi’s car was still up on the jacks, undergoing repairs as Group A headed out with Rowland, Barnard, Ticktum, Günther, Vergne, Dennis, Vandoorne, Hughes, Maloney, and Sette Câmara. For di Grassi, taking part in qualifying wasn’t realistic, and even his race start was uncertain.
Meanwhile, Rowland started strong, setting the early benchmark. However, the drying track saw rapid improvement, with the fastest laps trading hands between DS Penske and Maserati drivers during the session’s first half.
With just one minute remaining, a yellow flag appeared as Hughes hit the wall. That soon turned into a red flag, cutting short Rowland’s attempt to break into the top four and advance to the duels.
However, since Hughes was P2 when he caused the red flag, his lap time was deleted — giving Rowland a late chance to go into the duels.
Group B
Track conditions were noticeably better for Group B, as seen in the improved lap times. Da Costa shrugged off his FP3 misfortune to set the fastest time with five minutes remaining. Jaguar, by contrast, seemed to struggle as the conditions improved.
Wehrlein then went fastest with a stunning lap, gaining nearly 4 tenths on his teammate. With Rowland shown pacing in the garage, it became evident Porsche held the upper hand.
As the track continued drying, some drivers who had impressed in the wet (like Cassidy and Buemi) fell short, including yesterday’s winner Evans. The Jaguar driver missed out by 0.03 seconds only. On the other hand, Wehrlein, da Costa, Frijns, and Müller all advanced into duels.
Duels
Just before the duels began, the rain returned, shaking up expectations yet again. It was short lived though and didn’t cause any serious damage.
Quarterfinals
Ticktum faced Barnard in the first duel. Despite the McLaren driver’s strong recent form, he was no match for the Cupra Kiro today. Ticktum won by over 6 tenths, marking Barnard’s first-ever quarterfinal defeat.
Vandoorne looked strong mid-lap against the championship leader in the next duel. Then he had a snap in the second half, which cost him dearly, allowing Rowland to advance.
Frijns facing da Costa promised the closest duel so far. Frijns started slower but nearly closed the gap before the finish. His herculean effort that ultimately fell short.
In the final duel, Wehrlein stood against Müller. Based on the predictor vote, the Porsche driver was the clear favourite and lived up to expectations. He crushed Müller by over 6 tenths to move on.
Semifinals
The biggest surprise came in semifinals. Ticktum started faster, and while Rowland fought back hard, he couldn’t close the gap. It marked another missed pole chance for the championship leader.
In the other semifinal duel, the Porsche teammates stood against each other. Wehrlein was on fire, setting the fastest lap of the weekend to defeat his teammate by a massive 7 tenths.
Final
With pole on the line, Wehrlein hoped to deliver a perfect lap on home soil. He stormed ahead from the start and maintained the advantage to the line. Ticktum stood no chance while Wehrlein claimed pole — Porsche’s first-ever home pole position.
Starting Grid Highlights
As it stands, Wehrlein will start from pole, with Ticktum alongside him and Rowland in P3. The championship fight is far from over.