Lewis Hamilton secured his second win of the year and 16th of his career on Sunday when he confirmed McLaren’s renaissance with a brilliant victory in the German Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Englishman, who started from second on the grid, took the lead from the start and produced a well-judged race supported by excellent strategy to resist strong challenges from his rivals and finish triumphant.
The 2008 champion controlled the race for long periods, but had to fight at times to retain his advantage as he came home 3.9 seconds ahead of second placed Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari with Australia’s Mark Webber third.
The two-times champion, who had won the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, finished a strong second ahead of Webber, the German pole-sitter, of Red Bull and his team-mate and defending champion Sebastian Vettel, in fourth, after a brilliant final pit stop. Sydney Morning Herald
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Formula 1: German Grand Prix - Race Results
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Webber, who finally led a lap for the first time this year, had watched his team-mate Vettel win six of nine races this season, but both Red Bulls were this time outshone by Britain’s 2008 champion Hamilton.
“When you do finally hit the sweet spot, it couldn’t feel any better,” said Hamilton. “We never expected to come here and be so fast and competitive, but that was one of the best races I’ve ever done.
“Bit by bit I’m learning more about how the car is behaving, and it was really fantastic for me to able to make steps forward, and this is a massive one, so I really hope we can keep the momentum going.” The Guardian
Vettel came through to finish fourth after battling for half the race with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. The pair were also on three-stop strategies, but only came in for medium tyres (which they had to use under the rules) at the end of the penultimate lap. Red Bull’s pit crew proved more efficient than Ferrari’s and Vettel came out in front. But it was an unusual off day for the championship leader at his home race and he couldn’t live with the pace of the top three. He also had an uncharacteristic spin when he put a wheel on the wet Astroturf on the entrance to turn eight and spun into the infield.
After a bad start Jenson Button had the potential to join the fight but had to retire his McLaren after 35 laps with a hydraulics problem. He’d just passed Adrian Sutil who went on to take an impressive sixth place in the Force India. He was the highest placed two-stopper in the field and used his strategy to completely outperform the potential of his car at his home race.
Nico Rosberg finished seventh in the highest placed Mercedes, ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher. Rosberg took a lot out of his tyres defending from Massa early in the race and Schumacher had the potential to pass him midway through the race. However, the seven-time world champion spun on the entrance to the chicane that bears his name and had to fight hard to get back to eighth.
Two-stop strategies for Kamui Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov delivered them to the final two points paying positions, with the Sauber driver making up nine positions from his grid spot to finish ninth and the Renault finishing tenth. ESPN F1
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