Bottas edges Hamilton to grab pole
Nürburgring, Germany - Valtteri Bottas produced a blistering final qualifying lap on Saturday to edge Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and claim pole position for the Eifel Grand Prix.
Bottas was fastest by just 0.256 seconds to take his third pole of the season.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen starts from third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth.
"It is such a nice feeling when you do it on the last lap," said Bottas.
The chilly autumn weather has shaped practice and qualifying. Friday's practice sessions were wiped out by fog and rain.
"It's been pretty tricky with short practice and these conditions getting the tyres in the sweet spot, that was one of the bigger things today.
"I believe I can win. That's the only goal for tomorrow and hopefully we can have a good start."
Hamilton, who needs just one victory to equal Michael Schumacher's record of 91 Grand Prix victories, had to settle for second on the grid alongside his teammate, who is 44 points behind him in the championship race.
"It's an amazing circuit and one of the historic circuits so definitely great to be back here," he said of the Nurburgring track.
Shortly before qualifying, Racing Point announced that Nico Hulkenberg would step in for Lance Stroll who was 'unwell'.
Hulkenberg, who covered for Stroll's teammate Sergio Perez at Silverstone, could only finish 20th and last in qualifying.
"Lance did not feel 100 per cent this morning and the team took the decision not to run him for the rest of the event," the team said on its website.
It was not made clear if Stroll had tested positive for COVID-19.
His teammate Sergio Perez was quarantined for two weeks after returning from Mexico and testing positive for the coronavirus ahead of the British Grand Prix in July.
"Nico, who previously deputised for Sergio Perez at the Silverstone events, is familiar with the car and team already, and fortunately was in nearby Cologne," said Racing Point.
The Mercedes team were hit this week by two positive test results in their travelling race team, resulting in six staff going into isolation. Six replacements were flown to Germany on Thursday.