Lewis Hamilton's march toward a third consecutive driver's championship continued on Saturday as the British driver claimed yet another pole position in the German Grand Prix.

But it was a different story for home favorite Sebastian Vettel, who will start what could be the last German Grand Prix at the back of the grid. The Ferrari driver crashed out while leading at Hockenheim last year but this year his engine let him down in qualifying.

"I don't know what happened - something broke from the turbo," Vettel said. "The car was great but we lost out on a chance. The car was good, we did some changes that would have been great but it is not meant to be."

Vettel's teammate Charles Leclerc also suffered from mechanical issues and failed to leave the garage in Q3. The Frenchman is due to start in 10th.

There were no such problems for Hamilton, who claimed an 87th pole ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

"You never stop to amaze us, congratulations," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told Hamilton over the radio.

"I don't know really how we did it today," said Hamilton. "I'm not quite sure what happened to the Ferraris. It's so important to us, at our second home Grand Prix."

Sunday's race could be the last grand prix to be held in Germany because of costs and competition from new venues in Vietnam and the Netherlands on the calendar.

mp (DPA, AP)