2005 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Champion Gary Paffett secured pole position for race one at Hockenheim, as the Briton was relatively unchallenged for what was his first pole position since Moscow Raceway in 2016.
The Mercedes driver showed good pace, setting his effort of a 1:32.264 with just over 13 and a half minutes left to go, with the BMW pairing of Marco Wittmann and Timo Glock rounding out the top three.
It was three from Stuttgart in the top five, with both Lucas Auer and Pascal Wehrlein fourth and fifth respectively, as the latter was only 0.002 seconds away from bettering the Austrian.
Augusto Farfus was the next best placed of the BMW contingent in sixth, as the Brazilian could only muster a 1:32.683 around the 4.574-km circuit.
Edoardo Mortara was one of several drivers that were able to improve under the increased track temperature conditions in the latter stages of qualifying, which had raised by six degrees since the earlier free practice session.
The Italian driver moved up to seventh ahead of Bruno Spengler and defending champion René Rast, whilst débutant Joel Eriksson was able to secure tenth place in his first ever DTM qualifying effort, and was also the best of the rookies.
Mike Rockenfeller, Paul Di Resta and Daniel Juncadella completed the top twelve, who were only split by 0.625 seconds after the 20-minute session.
Nico Müller was 14th fastest, ahead of BMW newcomer Philipp Eng, with the remaining four Audis of Loïc Duval, Robin Frijns, Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green rounding out the starting order for the first race of the season.
All drivers were separated by 0.986 seconds at the conclusion of qualifying.
Race one of the 2018 DTM season gets underway at 1330 CEST (1230 BST), lasting for 55 minutes plus one lap, with a mandatory pit stop.
Qualifying result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 2 | Gary PAFFETT |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 6 | 1:32.264 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 11 | Marco WITTMANN |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 7 | 1:32.463 | 0.199 |
| 3 | 16 | Timo GLOCK | |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 8 | 1:32.468 | 0.204 |
| 4 | 22 | Lucas AUER |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:32.484 | 0.220 |
| 5 | 94 | Pascal WEHRLEIN | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport PETRONAS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 8 | 1:32.486 | 0.222 |
| 6 | 15 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BMW Team RMG | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.683 | 0.419 |
| 7 | 48 | Edoardo MORTARA |  |
SILBERPFEIL Energy Mercedes-AMG Motorsport | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:32.719 | 0.455 |
| 8 | 7 | Bruno SPENGLER |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 9 | 1:32.776 | 0.512 |
| 9 | 33 | René RAST | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.780 | 0.516 |
| 10 | 47 | Joel ERIKSSON |  |
BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.794 | 0.530 |
| 11 | 99 | Mike ROCKENFELLER | |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:32.811 | 0.547 |
| 12 | 3 | Paul DI RESTA | |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 7 | 1:32.841 | 0.577 |
| 13 | 23 | Daniel JUNCADELLA |  |
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport REMUS | Mercedes-AMG C63 DTM | 9 | 1:32.889 | 0.625 |
| 14 | 51 | Nico MÜLLER |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:32.986 | 0.722 |
| 15 | 25 | Philipp ENG | |
BMW Team RMR | BMW M4 DTM | 10 | 1:32.990 | 0.726 |
| 16 | 28 | Loïc DUVAL |  |
Audi Sport Team Phoenix | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:33.036 | 0.772 |
| 17 | 4 | Robin FRIJNS |  |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 10 | 1:33.094 | 0.830 |
| 18 | 5 | Mattias EKSTRÖM | |
Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:33.174 | 0.910 |
| 19 | 53 | Jamie GREEN | |
Audi Sport Team Rosberg | Audi RS5 DTM | 9 | 1:33.250 | 0.986 |