F3 Euro Series champion Jules Bianchi took his sixth pole position from 10 race weekends in dominant fashion at a damp Hockenheim, denying Tom Dillmann a shock pole for HBR Motorsport.
The session took place in tricky conditions due to low temperatures and occasional drizzle, with all of the quickest times being set in the first half of the 30-minute session. Dillmann was out of the blocks quickly to hold the top spot for the first 14 minutes, but once Bianchi got into his stride he was able to eclipse his countryman's best effort by seven tenths of a second.
Shortly after that lap the red flags were brought out briefly, and when the session restarted nobody was able to improve their times in the remaining 13 minutes. Dillmann sat in the pits for most of the session after his early pace-setting run, but his time was safe thanks to the track conditions failing to improve.
Despite his pole being in the bag, Bianchi went back out after the red flag to further assert his dominance over his rivals. While the rest of the field lapped seconds off the pace, the ART driver was still able to do a lap good enough for a top 10 grid slot in the closing stages.
Behind the all-French front row, Valterri Bottas will start third after setting his best lap shortly after team-mate Bianchi's, while Roberto Merhi lines up fourth for Manor Motorsport.
There was another surprise in the top five though, as British F3 convert Victor Garcia starred on his Euro Series debut to take fifth for Prema Powerteam, taking advantage of the fact that he was one of those up to speed immediately when the track was at its best.
Marco Wittmann completed the top six for Mucke Motorsport, which is missing two of its regular drivers this weekend as Christian Vietoris and Sam Bird have opted to attend the GP2 Asia test at Abu Dhabi this weekend instead.