Hamilton waved and gave a thumbs-up from a stretcher before being taken by ambulance from the track. Officials said he was conscious and speaking on the way to the circuit's medical center.

The Englishman hit the wall hard after he slid across the gravel next to the track when the right-front wheel of his McLaren was damaged.

McLaren officials said Hamilton hadn't broken any bones and would be kept under observation in a military hospital in nearby Koblenz for several hours. There was no immediate word if he would be able to race Sunday. If so, Hamilton would start from 10th position on the grid.

"It's far too early to say, but at the moment he doesn't appear to have pain anywhere, no broken bones," team boss Ron Dennis said. "We won't be able to decide until after a few hours' observation, but so far, so good."

Dennis said the crash was caused by the "failure of the right-hand wheel gun, so effectively the wheel wasn't properly put on."

"At least we know we don't have a problem with the car," Dennis said.

The qualifying session was stopped with 5:31 minutes remaining and it took about 30 minutes for the session to resume.

"Sometimes it's difficult to wait, you have to be patient and do the best you can when you go out again," said Raikkonen, who grabbed his second pole of the season and 13th of his career.

The Ferrari driver, who is coming off two consecutive F1 wins, drove the fastest lap on the 3.2-mile Nuerburgring circuit in 1 minute, 31.450 seconds.

Fernando Alonso, the two-time defending champion who trails Hamilton by 12 points after nine of 17 races, was second in 1:31.741. Felipe Massa of Ferrari was third in 1:31.778.

Hamilton is seeking to become the first driver to win the championship in his rookie season. He has won two races and finished in the top three in all nine.

Hamilton's mechanical problems didn't worry Alonso, who also drives for McLaren.

"The car was running fine," Alonso said. "But the best news of the day is that Lewis seems fine."

Raikkonen, who had the fastest times in two of three practice sessions, said his Ferrari was running well all weekend.

Ferrari won last year's race, with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher at the wheel in his final season before retiring.