@LewisHamilton wins wet and wild #GermanGP as #Vettel retires. #F1

Lewis Hamilton won a spectacular German Grand Prix from 14^th on the grid as title-rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out as a rain storm hit the 4.574km Hockenheim circuit.

 

 

Polesitter Vettel lead most of his home race but dropped out of contention on lap 52 when the German slid off the track at the stadium section, bouncing through the gravel and struck the Sachskurve barriers.

 

Hamilton started from 14^th and took the drenching conditions during the later stages to his advantage, which caught out a lot of the drivers – including leader Vettel – and led to the deployment the safety car.

 

A number of teams went straight for the pits including Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen.

 

Hamilton stayed out and held the lead despite a momentary battle with team-mate Bottas at the restart to claim his 66^th career victory and the championship lead with Raikkonen coming home third.

 

How the 67 lap German GP unfolded

 

Polesitter Vettel got a clean getaway as Bottas slotted in between the two Ferrari’s as Max Verstappen had a look at Raikkonen into the first corner but couldn’t make the move stick.

 

Verstappen had another run again on Raikkonen at the hairpin, but the Dutchman was on the outside and still couldn’t get his way through.

 

Verstappen tried again at the Mercedes section, but the Finn held firm as this allowed Vettel and Bottas to pull away.

 

By the eighth lap, Vettel held a comfortable 3.2 second lead over Bottas whilst title-rival Hamilton made his way past Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean for eighth.

 

Hamilton made his way up into fifth place by the 14^th lap, flying through the field during the early stages.

 

Also starting out of place, Daniel Ricciardo was slowly making his way through the pack but at a much stable rate than Hamilton.

 

Using a set of the more durable white side-walled Medium tyres, Red Bull planned to run the Perth-born Australian on a longer opening stint though he never made his first stop when he was forced to retire on lap 29 due to a loss of power.

 

The order went Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen and Verstappen as the front four built a comfortable gap over the other Haas VF-18 of Kevin Magnussen, with Vettel continuing to build on his solid lead.

 

Raikkonen was the first to pit on lap 15 and emerged ahead of Hamilton as Ferrari attempted to put pressure on second placed Bottas.

 

Vettel pitted from the lead on lap 27, handing the race lead over to Bottas before coming out in between his Ferrari team-mate and Hamilton.

 

Bottas stopped three laps later, rejoining behind Mercedes team-mate Hamilton as Verstappen stayed out a lap longer before stopping.

 

This left Raikkonen in the lead over Vettel with Hamilton yet to make his stop.

 

Despite a fresher set of softer compounds, Vettel was unable to pass Raikkonen until Ferrari made the call to switch their drivers positions on lap 39.

 

Mercedes brought Hamilton in on lap 42, putting on a fresh set of the faster ultrasofts just before the rain started falling.

 

The much-anticipated rain shower hit on lap 44 at the turn six hairpin.

 

Sauber went for the gamble first, pitting Charles Leclerc for a set of intermediates, sparking a hive of activity from McLaren and Toro Rosso despite most of the circuit remaining dry.

 

With the fresher set of ultras, Hamilton was flying and lapping more than a second quicker than everyone on track.

 

The early risk-takers decisions backfired as Leclerc put on a fresh set of ultras on lap 49 along with Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly.

 

Red Bull also tried their luck with Verstappen switching for intermediates but was forced to change back to slicks a few laps later.

 

The conditions changed once again as the rain returned, Leclerc and Perez spun as Bottas made a move on Raikkonen’s SF71-H racer as his fellow Finnish compatriot struggled on his soft tyres.

 

The on the rundown into the Mercedes section, Magnussen forced Raikkonen wide as Bottas snatched second place.

 

Conditions worsened, and disaster struck for Vettel as the German lost the rear of his Ferrari as he turned into the hairpin, slid through the gravel and crashed into the barriers from the lead at Sachskurve.

 

This deployed the safety car with Bottas diving into the pits where he was held up while the Brackley-based squad hurried to find the right compounds.

 

Hamilton travelled across the grass at the final corner on pit entry, looking as if the Briton wanted to stop but changed his mind at the last moment causing confusion within the Mercedes garage.

 

Ferrari pitted Raikkonen a lap after the safety car came out, putting on a set of ultras and relegated him to third.

 

It left Hamilton in-front, making a Mercedes one-two with most of the field between the Briton and team-mate Bottas.

 

The advantage was erased when the lapped runners were allowed to pass the safety car, leaving the leaders stabilised at the restart.

 

The race resumed on lap 58 as the two Mercedes drivers pulled clear from Raikkonen.

 

Bottas attacked Hamilton at the turn six hairpin as the two Silver Arrows battled wheel-to-wheel before Hamilton regained the advantage.

 

The team called off the fight between the two Mercedes, telling Bottas to hold position as Hamilton took the victory ahead of the Finn with Raikkonen completing the podium.

 

Verstappen came home in fourth place and in-front of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who finished fifth and Grosjean’s Haas who was sixth.

 

The two Force India’s followed as Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished in seventh and eighth places respectively taking home a total of 10 points for the Silverstone-based squad.

 

Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson took ninth place and ahead of Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley who rounded out the top ten.

 

The other Haas of Magnussen finished outside the top 10 in 11^th place and in-front of Renault’s Carlos Sainz who was 12^th and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne who finished 13^th.

 

Toro Rosso’s Gasly and Sauber’s Leclerc finished a lap down from the leaders in 14^th and 15^th respectively and brought up the rear.

 

Formula 1 Emirates Grosser Preis Von Deutschland 2018 Race Results Classification (67 Laps)

POS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	GAP
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	67	1h32m29.845s
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport	67	4.535s
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Scuderia Ferrari	67	6.732s
4	Max Verstappen	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	67	7.654s
5	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault Sport F1 Team	67	26.609s
6	Romain Grosjean	Haas F1 Team	67	28.871s
7	Sergio Perez	Sahara Force India F1 Team	67	30.556s
8	Esteban Ocon	Sahara Force India F1 Team	67	31.750s
9	Marcus Ericsson	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	67	32.362s
10	Brendon Hartley	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	67	34.197s
11	Kevin Magnussen	Haas F1 Team	67	34.919s
12	Carlos Sainz	Renault Sport F1 Team	67	43.069s
13	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	67	46.617s
14	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda	66	1 Lap
15	Charles Leclerc	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	66	1 Lap
16	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Renault F1 Team	65	Not running
–	Lance Stroll	Williams Martini Racing	53	Brakes
–	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams Martini Racing	51	Not running
–	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari	51	Spun off
–	Daniel Ricciardo	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	27	Not running

 

2018 Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship Standings

1. Lewis Hamilton – 188 Points.
2. Sebastian Vettel – 171 Points.
3. Kimi Raikkonen – 131 Points.
4. Valtteri Bottas – 122 Points.
5. Daniel Ricciardo – 106 Points.
6. Max Verstappen – 105 Points.
7. Nico Hulkenberg – 52 Points.
8. Fernando Alonso – 40 Points.
9. Kevin Magnussen – 39 Points.
10. Sergio Perez – 30 Points.

 

2018 Formula 1 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 310 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 302 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing – 211 Points.
4. Renault Sport F1 Team – 80 Points.
5. Sahara Force India F1 Team – 59 Points.
6. Haas F1 Team – 59 Points.
7. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 48 Points.
8. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 20 Points.
9. Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team – 18 Points.
10. Williams Martini Racing – 4 Points.

 

Round 12 of the FIA Formula One World Championship heads straight to the Hungaroring in Hungary next weekend for the Formula 1 Rolex Magyar Nagydij 2018 from July 27-29.