Lewis Hamilton scored his 49th Grand Prix win with a dominant drive at Hockenheim. The reigning world champion extends his championship lead by 19 points as team-mate Nico Rosberg suffered a poor start.
With his Mercedes colleague bogged down with wheel spin from pole position, Hamilton took the lead and never looked back. It was his sixth victory in seven races.
Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second in his 100th Grand Prix appearance, with his team-mate Max Verstappen completing the podium in third.
Rosberg made a poor getaway at the start, dropping to fourth as Verstappen went round the outside of Ricciardo through Turn 1 to take second behind clear leader Hamilton.
At the first round of pit-stops, Mercedes and Red Bull split strategies, with Rosberg and Verstappen taking the super-softs and Hamilton and Ricciardo the softs tyre – though all the leaders ultimately ended up on three-stop plans.
Verstappen struggled with that tyre compound, allowing Rosberg to close the gap and then pit early to try the undercut.
Red Bull responded by bringing the youngster in early too and he rejoined ahead but Rosberg got in the slipstream on the run down to the hairpin.
Rosberg dived down the inside, with Verstappen moving in the braking zone before then giving him some room.
Rosberg ran deep into the corner, pushing Verstappen wide and then off track. Following an investigation, the Mercedes driver was handed a five-second time penalty to take at his final pitstop.
Hamilton and Ricciardo ran longer before their second pit-stops, and went to super-softs whereas Verstappen and Rosberg had gone for softs.
That helped Ricciardo to close on and pass Verstappen, and when he took more super-softs at the last stops while Hamilton reverted to softs he mounted a charge towards the lead.
Hamilton had enough in hand, though, raising his pace when required to stay clear of Ricciardo and take the victory.
Rosberg appeared to be held for longer than five seconds for his penalty at his final stop and rejoined fourth, losing all hope of rescuing a podium.
Ferrari had a difficult race with Sebastian Vettel fifth, 32.5 seconds adrift at the chequered flag with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen 4.4 seconds further back after they swapped positions at the start.
It meant the Scuderia have dropped behind Red Bull, which scored its first double podium since Hungary last year, to third in the constructors’ championship, 14 points adrift.
Nico Hulkenberg was seventh ahead of Jenson Button with Valtteri Bottas ending up ninth after a long final stint on the soft tyre.
Sergio Perez snatched tenth from Fernando Alonso with three laps to go.
Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr were the only two retirements, with the former pulling into the garage with suspected damage after being hit by Jolyon Palmer at the start.
So the sport takes a summer break. Lewis Hamilton has been on a winning form, overcoming a deficient to Nico Rosberg to lead by 19 points. The action resumes in late August at magnificent Spa.
German Grand Prix, race results after 67 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h30m44.200s
2 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 6.996s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 13.413s
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 15.845s
5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 32.570s
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 37.023s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m10.049s
8 Jenson Button McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1 Lap
10 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
11 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1 Lap
12 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
13 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1 Lap
14 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Lap
15 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Lap
16 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1 Lap
17 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 2 Laps
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 2 Laps
19 Jolyon Palmer Renault 2 Laps
20 Rio Haryanto Manor-Mercedes 2 Laps
– Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari Retirement
– Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes Retirement
Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 217
2 Nico Rosberg 198
3 Daniel Ricciardo 133
4 Kimi Raikkonen 122
5 Sebastian Vettel 120
6 Max Verstappen 115
7 Valtteri Bottas 58
8 Sergio Perez 48
9 Felipe Massa 38
10 Nico Hulkenberg 33
11 Carlos Sainz 30
12 Romain Grosjean 28
13 Fernando Alonso 24
14 Daniil Kvyat 23
15 Jenson Button 17
16 Kevin Magnussen 6
17 Pascal Wehrlein 1
18 Stoffel Vandoorne 1
19 Esteban Gutierrez 0
20 Jolyon Palmer 0
21 Marcus Ericsson 0
22 Felipe Nasr 0
23 Rio Haryanto 0
Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 415
2 Red Bull-Renault 256
3 Ferrari 242
4 Williams-Mercedes 96
5 Force India-Mercedes 81
6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 45
7 McLaren-Honda 42
8 Haas-Ferrari 28
9 Renault 6
10 Manor-Mercedes 1
11 Sauber-Ferrari 0
German Grand Prix race review as reported by Formula1.com:
Lewis Hamilton extended his championship lead to 19 points heading into the summer break with a dominant victory in Germany, as team mate Nico Rosberg was beaten into fourth place by the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
He may have lost out on pole position, but from the moment the lights went out at the start Hamilton was in complete command at Hockenheim.
As polesitter Nico Rosberg was slow away, Hamilton went straight into the lead as the German also fell behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, the Dutchman going round the outside of his team mate in Turn 1 to claim second.
Under pressure, Rosberg clung to fourth place, just fending off the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
It was soon clear that this was Hamilton’s race to lose, but his pit stops went perfectly and he never lost the lead.
Behind him, Rosberg fought hard to recover and on lap 30 the German completed a muscular pass on Verstappen at the hairpin. However, the Dutchman was quick to complain about being forced off the track, and after a stewards investigation Rosberg was handed a five-second penalty.
The German served the penalty at his final stop on the 44th lap and dropped back to fourth, but thereafter he didn’t have the pace to overhaul the Red Bulls.
Rain drops at the end looked like they might make things tricky for everyone, but in the end Hamilton managed Ricciardo’s valiant challenge perfectly despite heavy lapped traffic, putting in quick laps when necessary. In the end he was 6.9s ahead as he took the flag for his 49th Grand Prix victory – and his sixth win in the last seven races.
Verstappen, who, on a slightly different three-stop strategy to Ricciardo had earlier let his team mate past, closed on the Australian for a while before eventually settling for third and another podium, as Rosberg trailed home fourth. The Ferraris were a lonely fifth and sixth, having never really been in the game – and they now trail Red Bull in the standings. Food for thought for those at Maranello heading into the summer break…
The two-stopping Valtteri Bottas held seventh for Williams for much of the race, but as his tyres faded he was overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India, and Jenson Button, who drove a superb race for McLaren to take eighth. Bottas clung to ninth, just ahead of Sergio Perez, who spent his race recovering from a poor start, but pipped the other McLaren of Fernando Alonso to the final world championship point with a late pass.
Alonso had been chasing Button for a long time, but as he faded he was passed not only by Perez but also by the feisty Esteban Gutierrez, who had a racelong fight with Haas team mate Romain Grosjean; they sandwiched the Spaniard at the end.
Carlos Sainz led Toro Rosso team mate Daniil Kvyat home for 14th, as Kevin Magnussen was Renault’s best finisher in 16h ahead of Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor, Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber, the other Renault of Jolyon Palmer (who was delayed by a collision at Turn 1 at the start with Felipe Massa), and the second Manor of Rio Haryanto.
Massa, who suffered handling issues with his Williams all race, failed to finish, as did Sauber’s Felipe Nasr with technical trouble.
Hamilton now has 217 points to Rosberg’s 198 with Ricciardo keeping third place with 133 from Raikkonen on 122, Vettel on 120 and Verstappen on 115.
In the constructors’ stakes, Mercedes increase their lead with 415 points as Red Bull overtake Ferrari – 256 to 242. Williams have 96, Force India 80, Toro Rosso 45 and McLaren 42.
Max Verstappen said Formula 1 rival Nico Rosberg left him no option but to go off to avoid a crash in their German Grand Prix battle.
Rosberg was given a five-second time penalty and two penalty points on his licence for his move on Verstappen at the Hockenheim hairpin.
The Mercedes driver was attacking the Red Bull for what was then fifth place, immediately after their second pitstops.
Verstappen took to the runoff area to avoid Rosberg and instantly complained on the radio that he had been forced off, an opinion the stewards agreed with.
“He was quite far back so he braked really late,” said Verstappen.
“At one point I thought he was going to run into me so I opened up.
“He didn’t turn in, he just kept driving straight, so I had to go off the track, otherwise he would’ve crashed.”
The Dutchman hinted the incident was similar to Rosberg’s attempt to resist Lewis Hamilton for the lead on the final lap of the Austrian GP four weeks ago, calling Rosberg’s driving: “not very handy! Lewis knows…”
Rosberg’s penalty dropped him back behind both Red Bulls and he finished fourth.
Verstappen chased Hamilton for the Hockenheim lead initially after going around the outside of Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo for second at Turn 1 on the opening lap.
But he ultimately finished back in third behind the Australian, who passed him on super-softs when their tyre strategies diverged mid-race.
Verstappen said he had decided not to fight Ricciardo too hard when his team-mate had superior pace as the team had already discussed the possibility of their strategies differing.
“On this track you have a lot of possibilities. We talked about them,” said Verstappen of the switch of positions.
“I think we did a good job on that today.”
Ricciardo added: “It was a good bit of teamwork for us.”
Red Bull’s first double podium since last year’s Hungarian GP moved the team up to second in the constructors’ championship ahead of Ferrari, which could only finish fifth and sixth.
Source: Autosport.com
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took the pit strategy into his own hands and questioned the team’s mistake during the German Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the full story.
Sebastian Vettel has admitted he was wrong to question the Ferrari Formula 1 team’s strategy in a radio row during the German Grand Prix.
Vettel insisted on staying out before his final stop despite Ferrari urging him to pit.
He argued his tyres were still in good shape and that the team’s desire to get an undercut on Max Verstappen was misplaced as all the cars ahead were “miles away” at the time.
In retrospect Vettel said he realised an earlier stop would have been worth the gamble as Ferrari’s pace was better on fresh tyres.
“I’ve looked at that now and I think I made a mistake because we could have had a chance at putting the cars in front under some more pressure,” he said.
“But we were talking about it for a long time. I don’t know how much got broadcast.
“We were obviously not so great at the end of the stints, struggling a bit with the tyres, and obviously I didn’t want to make the last stint too long for that reason, so I think it was too conservative.”
Vettel was nine seconds behind Verstappen at the time of the strategy debate, and ultimately pitted within the same window as the rest of the lead pack.
The German and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fell away from the Mercedes and Red Bulls throughout the race and finished in distant fifth and sixth places.
“Like yesterday we struggled a little bit to get the balance right and the car was arguably sliding a little bit too much, which cost us a bit of life on the tyres and performance at the end of the stint,” Vettel said.
“To sum it up, we just were not quick enough today.”
Raikkonen, who outqualified Vettel but was then beaten off the line, said there was nothing Ferrari could have done differently on strategy to make up for a lack of pace and high tyre wear.
“We kind of ran out a bit of the fronts or the rears depending on what we did at the pitstops,” he said.
“Purely we need more downforce to go faster, plus it’s going to make a big difference for tyre life.
“We were just lacking overall speed. There are moments where we can be very fast in the race but it doesn’t last long enough and we need to fix those things.”
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was left feeling surprised after his ‘awesome’ move on Max Verstappen was penalised by the race stewards. Autosport.com has the details.
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg says he was surprised to be penalised for what he initially thought was an “awesome” German Grand Prix overtaking move on Max Verstappen.
Rosberg was recovering from a slow start in his home F1 race, and trying to pass the Red Bull driver for what was then fifth place in the middle phase of the grand prix.
He fired up the inside at Turn 6, and both drivers ran towards the outside of the corner, forcing Verstappen wide.
Verstappen thought he and Rosberg would crash
Rosberg was then handed a five-second time penalty for his next pitstop by stewards.
“It took me by surprise, definitely,” he said. “I didn’t expect a penalty for that.
“It was racing. I was really ecstatic at the time because I thought ‘wow, that was awesome, I came from miles behind’.
“And I was very happy to get the position because that meant I would have got second place at least – it was damage limitation.
“I was very surprised to get a penalty for it.”
Rosberg denied that the move was “comparable” to his last-lap run-in with team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring earlier this month, for which he was also penalised.
“[It was] different positioning, I was clearly ahead this time,” he said.
Verstappen’s defence against Kimi Raikkonen in Hungary last weekend drew criticism from some drivers, namely that he had moved in the braking area.
It was discussed in the drivers’ briefing at Hockenheim, and when asked if that was a factor, Rosberg said: “For sure, that made it more difficult.
“It was discussed on Friday that we’re supposed to try to avoid that.”
While Hamilton won his sixth grand prix in seven starts, Rosberg ultimately finished fourth behind both Red Bulls, and now trails the British driver by 19 points in the championship.
His afternoon was capped by essentially serving an eight-second penalty in the pits rather than a five, owing to what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called a “stopwatch failure”.
“Even in a Formula 1 team with all of the high-tech [elements], if you use instruments that you don’t usually use like a stopwatch they can fail,” he said.
“The stopwatch didn’t start properly and once we realised, we had to take it safe, and this is why it took longer than normal.
“We could have also counted, but we relied on the stopwatch and it let us down.”
Lewis Hamilton says nothing more than hard work is behind his improved starts, crucial in his 19-point advantage over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg at Formula One’s summer shutdown.
Rosberg won the first four races of 2016, besting pole-sitter Hamilton off the line in Australia and Bahrain as the reigning drivers’ champion was let down by his launch.
However, Hamilton now has a quartet of consecutive wins behind him and it is he who has had the better of the Silver Arrows’ starts – winning in Hungary and Germany despite Rosberg taking Saturday honours.
“It’s kind of the luck of the draw. We have worked very, very hard,” Hamilton said after Sunday’s dominant victory at the Hockenheimring.
“Obviously I have a guy that I’m working with very, very closely and it’s been an up-and-down season and it’s not his fault or not my fault, it’s just the way these new clutch-regs [regulations] are and how sensitive the clutches are.
“I think we’ve worked, and worked and worked, and just consistency and really trying to be precise with the whole procedure.
“And I think today the procedure, the last two races, the procedure’s been spot-on, pretty much. Today was definitely the best one I would say. Yeah, it’s just a work in progress.”
Hamilton could choose to take a new power unit at Spa in four weeks’ time, the overtake-friendly track could benefit him as he takes a 10, or possibly even 20-place penalty for using a sixth engine element of the season.
“Hopefully I’ve saved enough of my engine today hoping that I would be able to use it at the next race,” he explained.
“It will either be the next race or Monza, because I’m going to run out of engines soon.”
Source: Eurosport