The electromobility industry has experienced steady growth in recent years. Compared to fossil-fueled mobility, electromobility requires a higher quantity and quality of welds, e.g. regarding the tightness of components. Welding thin-walled aluminum containers is therefore challenging, but pulsed laser welding offers possibilities for realizing such applications. The EN AW-6xxx group of aluminum alloys is mainly used for such components due to their favorable mechanical properties. However, these alloys are susceptible to hot cracking during solidification from the molten phase. The strain that occurs during the solidification process has a significant influence on the formation of hot cracks. Process variables such as laser power, pulse shape and shielding gas are affecting the resulting strain. In this presentation, the nexus between the named process variables, strain and strain rate in relation to hot crack formation is shown based on the combination of high-speed imaging with digital image correlation.