But Hockenheim has only a couple of fast corners, the rest being second or third gear.
"It will be tough and very tight, " insisted the Brazilian, who was in fluid form for Ferrari around Hockenheim.
BBC: SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Hamilton clinches German GP pole
The Spaniard did not try to hide his satisfaction after pushing Red Bull to the limit in qualifying at Hockenheim.
Marussia will now continue its preparations for this weekend's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, the 10th race of the 2012 season.
"I am absolutely delighted to be returning to Hockenheim as a Grand Prix winner, " he said on the Mercedes F1 website.
The FIA confirmed that the European GP would be dropped and Germany's round shared by the Nurburgring and Hockenheim in future.
Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy will take part in first practice in Hockenheim for Lotus in place of either Jarno Trulli or Heikki Kovalainen.
Mercedes had arrived at their home race in Hockenheim with a modification to their exhaust blown diffuser and a new rear wing.
Coulthard moved up to second at Hockenheim after Michael Schumacher suffered a late-race puncture shortly after both men had passed Jarno Trulli's Renault.
However, the Brazilian - and Hamilton - profited from the wet conditions at Silverstone and more rain is forecast in Hockenheim on Sunday.
BBC: SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Hamilton clinches German GP pole
Vettel and Alonso will line up at the front of the grid at Hockenheim after the pair were almost inseparable in practice and qualifying.
BBC: Sebastian Vettel pips Fernando Alonso to German F1 pole
The Ferrari was lightning-quick in the final sector of his qualifying lap at Hockenheim and finished with a time of one minute 13.306 seconds.
Ecclestone granted the hosting rights for this season rather than passing them over to Hockenheim to run the German Grand Prix for the second straight year.
Britain's Hamilton, who gone into the race off the back of wins at Silverstone and Hockenheim, was in second place behind Massa, but failing to make a real impression, when he punctured.
At Valencia the team's new blown diffuser was introduced and two weeks later at Silverstone came a totally new front wing - the one that was causing such suspicion at Hockenheim.
Alonso lost out on pole to Sebastian Vettel at Hockenheim by a scant two-thousandths of a second and the car was, if anything, slightly faster than the Red Bull in the race.
Our pace at Hockenheim gives us cause for encouragement -- it's just that, as always, we'll need to run flawlessly through qualifying and the race if we're to be in the hunt at the end.
As the rain held off at Hockenheim, the Red Bulls and Ferrari dominated the fastest laps leaving world champion Button and team-mate Hamilton struggling 0.634 seconds behind the front two, something that troubled both McLaren drivers.
BBC: Sebastian Vettel pips Fernando Alonso to German F1 pole
Hamilton was quickest in the morning runs ahead of teammate Jenson Button as McLaren look to build on the improved performance of their car in Germany last weekend in the race at Hockenheim won by Alonso.
But seven-time world champion Schumacher has won a record 91 grands prix and it's no surprise the 43-year-old managed four of those at Hockenheim, plus five victories when the European Grand Prix was held at the Nurburgring.
Red Bull's two-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel was second in Hungary last year, and is aiming to bounce back from last weekend's disappointment at Hockenheim when he was demoted to fifth for an illegal late overtaking move on Button.
Nevertheless, Alonso said after the British Grand Prix two weeks ago that the performance of the car had made him more confident than ever that he could win the world championship - a message he repeated at Hockenheim this weekend.
Minardi boss Paul Stodddart - who has seen Renault's Fernando Alonso, Webber and now Wilson move on to bigger things - is to replace Wilson in Hockenheim with Dane Nicolas Kiesa, winner of the Formula 3000 race in Monaco this year.
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