The kernel of the Rost invariant, Serre's Conjecture II and the Hasse principle for quasi-split groups 3,6 D 4 , E 6 , E 7

 We prove that for a simple simply connected quasi-split group of type ^3,6 D ₄ ,E ₆ ,E ₇ defined over a perfect field F of characteristic ≠=2,3 the Rost invariant has trivial kernel. In certain cases we give a formula for the Rost invariant. It follows immediately from the result above that if cd F≤2 (resp. vcd F≤2) then Serre's Conjecture II (resp. the Hasse principle) holds for such a group. For a (C ₂ )-field, in particular ℂ(x,y), we prove the stronger result that Serre's Conjecture II holds for all (not necessary quasi-split) exceptional groups of type ^3,6 D ₄ ,E ₆ ,E ₇ . Received: 27 March 2002 / Published online: 28 March 2003 The author gratefully acknowledge the support of TMR ERB FMRX CT-97-0107 and Forschungsinstitut für Mathematik, ETH in Zürich