Newly-confirmed Red Bull Junior driver Max Verstappen took pole position for race one at the Nurburgring as the weather affected the session much like it did in the second free practice session.
The Dutchman, now racing with Red Bull colours on his Van Amersfoort Racing machine, set a best lap time of 1:37.036s, with Ed Jones of Carlin the only driver to be able to get within a second of that time.
One of the stars of the session however was the youngest driver in the field Santino Ferrucci, who took an amazing third place on the grid for EuroInternational. The young American, who only made his debut mid-way through the season at Spa-Francorchamps when he turned sixteen, will start alongside current championship leader Esteban Ocon of Prema Powerteam.
Antonio Fuoco will line up fifth in the second Prema Powerteam entry, alongside the leading Mücke Motorsport machine of Lucas Auer. Antonio Giovinazzi recovered from a disappointing couple of practice sessions to take seventh ahead of his Jagonya Ayam with Carlin team-mate Tom Blomqvist, while Mücke Motorsport duo Roy Nissany and Felix Rosenqvist will start ninth and tenth.
Race one will take place Saturday morning, ahead of the qualifying session that will determine the grids for races two and three.
Nurburgring Race 1 Qualifying Times
| POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:37.036 |
| 2 | Ed Jones | UAE | Carlin | 1:37.685 |
| 3 | Santino Ferrucci | USA | EuroInternational | 1:38.079 |
| 4 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Prema Powerteam | 1:38.153 |
| 5 | Antonio Fuoco | ITA | Prema Powerteam | 1:38.262 |
| 6 | Lucas Auer | AUT | Mücke Motorsport | 1:38.375 |
| 7 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:38.501 |
| 8 | Tom Blomqvist | GBR | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:38.610 |
| 9 | Roy Nissany | ISR | Mücke Motorsport | 1:38.728 |
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | SWE | Mücke Motorsport | 1:38.735 |
| 11 | Jordan King | GBR | Carlin | 1:38.831 |
| 12 | Felix Serralles | PUE | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:39.161 |
| 13 | Sean Galael | INO | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | 1:39.209 |
| 14 | Jake Dennis | GBR | Carlin | 1:39.317 |
| 15 | Dennis van de Laar | NED | Prema Powerteam | 1:39.938 |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Prema Powerteam | 1:39.955 |
| 17 | Jules Szymkowiak | NED | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:40.247 |
| 18 | Tatiana Calderon | COL | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:40.381 |
| 19 | Gustavo Menezes | USA | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:40.602 |
| 20 | Richard Goddard | AUS | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:40.629 |
| 21 | Sandro Zeller | SWI | Jo Zeller Racing | 1:40.715 |
| 22 | Alexander Toril | ESP | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:41.478 |
| 23 | Wing Chung Chang | MAC | Team West-Tec F3 | 1:43.079 |
| 24 | Michele Beretta | ITA | EuroInternational | 1:44.153 |
