Marc Marquez took pole in the pouring rain, ahead of Zarco and Bezzecchi. Bagnaia suffered a poor start, and Viñales was hospitalized.

In the rain at the Sachsenring , Marc Marquez took pole position. The Spaniard put in a great performance, setting the fastest time of 1:27.811, edging out an excellent Johann Zarco. Marco Bezzecchi finished third, followed by Franco Morbidelli. Pedro Acosta finished fifth, edging out Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo. Fabio Di Giannantonio finished eighth. Jack Miller rounded out the top 10 in ninth and Brad Binder in tenth. Francesco Bagnaia, struggling throughout the session, finished only eleventh. Mavericks Viñales was twelfth, having crashed early in the session and was taken to the hospital for shoulder checks.

The session began with rain and a wet track. Viñales made a good start, immediately taking the lead ahead of Zarco. The positions reversed shortly thereafter, with the Frenchman displacing the KTM rider. After the first few laps, the times improved significantly, with Zarco and Viñales faster than the rest of the field. In some areas of the track, the rain increased slightly over the course of the session. For the second run, many riders fitted the medium wet tire, imitating Zarco's initial choice. Raúl Fernández also proved very competitive with this compound, moving up to third place. Meanwhile, Zarco and Viñales continued to push and improve their times. These two riders qualified for Q2, with the Frenchman finishing the session in the lead. The following riders, who will start from thirteenth place onwards, were eliminated: Oliveira, Aldeguer, Marini, Fernández, Mir, Rins, Ogura, and Savadori.

At the start of Q2, the rain intensified. Viñales crashed early in the session: a major high side for the Spaniard, who went to the medical center after the crash. Starting on the medium tire, Bagnaia immediately returned to the pits to change to the soft tire. Another crash occurred a few minutes after Viñales's: this time it was Miller who crashed. The Australian was unharmed: both he and the KTM rider who had crashed shortly before were on the medium wet tire. After the first timed lap, Morbidelli took the lead with Binder and Marc Márquez close behind. The times were slower than in Q1 due to the heavier rain. On his second attempt, Márquez raised the bar, putting nine tenths of a second between himself and second-place Zarco. The Spaniard's pace was impressive, and he improved further immediately thereafter, further widening the gap to second, reaching 1.4 seconds. Bezzecchi, meanwhile, moved up to third, while Zarco improved his time, halving his gap to Márquez. Bagnaia had a difficult session, finishing tenth and not even posting a competitive time with five minutes to go. The times of Marquez's pursuers improved throughout the session, with Bezzecchi, Zarco, and Morbidelli battling for the front row. The Frenchman's time was sensational, closing within a tenth of Marquez. The eight-time world champion then took to the track to respond to his rival's lap. Morbidelli crashed on his final attempt, but the Italian was unharmed.