Lotus are expected they will continue with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen as drivers in 2011.
Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren overhauled Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to take third place on the grid.
The 21-year-old GP2 champion was third fastest behind Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr and Heikki Kovalainen on Thursday.
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Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel took the final points place, holding off Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren in the closing laps.
Rookie Heikki Kovalainen was the faster of the two Renaults in seventh place, just ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella.
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Pre-season favourite Heikki Kovalainen saw his title hopes disappear when he could only finish third in race one.
He managed some running in the afternoon and ended up ninth fastest, behind the impressive Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen.
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Nico Rosberg, who was fastest in final practice, claimed fifth spot ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.
The Englishman and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen took the wraps off the new Mercedes-powered MP4-24 at the team's base in Surrey.
Renault rookie Heikki Kovalainen has made the top 10 and outqualified team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella for the second time this season.
Ferrari's Massa finished third in second practice, while Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren and Williams' Nico Rosberg took fourth and fifth, respectively.
Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy will take part in first practice in Hockenheim for Lotus in place of either Jarno Trulli or Heikki Kovalainen.
McLaren's world champion left it late with a lap 0.047 seconds faster than team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who had topped the morning timesheets.
Red Bull's Mark Webber recorded the fastest time -- 1m21.953 -- followed nearly two seconds back by Hamilton's team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen.
Ferrari endured a bad day with Kimi Raikkonen down in 18th place, one behind compatriot Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren, and Giancarlo Fisichella 20th.
"Welcome to my world, " said Hamilton, whose team-mate Heikki Kovalainen made it through qualifying session one and will start Sunday's race a row in 14th.
World champion Lewis Hamilton will start from 18th place, one behind McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen, as both failed to make it past the first hurdle.
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Hamilton knew he could beat his former team-mate Heikki Kovalainen day in day out, and so all the resources and effort were focused on him.
Williams' Nico Rosberg claimed fifth spot with Ferrari number two Felipe Massa sixth, the other McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen seventh and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld eighth.
The Brazilian was hit by Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren at the first corner and had another tangle with Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages of the race.
Hamilton's hopes were further dented when he came out from his pit stop right behind his slower team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who was battling for position with Kubica.
McLaren drivers Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen floundered for most of the first half of the season in a car that struggled for downforce and subsequent race pace.
In addition to Campos signing Senna, Lotus have signed experienced race-winners Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen while Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi will drive for Virgin Racing.
His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen offers some protection in fifth place and with McLaren trailing Ferrari by 11 points in the constructors' title race both drivers need a solid finish.
His first punishment was in the second race of the season in Malaysia, where he and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen were handed five-place grid penalties for impeding other drivers in qualifying.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who had finished second to Hamilton earlier in the day, was fourth in the afternoon, followed by the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica and Toyota's Timo Glock.
The bottom five, though, was equally as remarkable as it proved to be a bad day for Finland with Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen failing to make it into Q2.
It was a disappointing day for fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren as he followed up his fifth placing in the morning with 15th in the late session.
Robert Kubica, Sebastian Vettel, Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen and Mark Webber were involved in serious collisions with each other, while the likes of Kazuki Nakajima and Kimi Raikkonen spun into the wall.
The new teams again trailed at the bottom, with the Lotus duo of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen ahead of Virgin's Lucas di Grassi, HRT's Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna .
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