Germany – Race: All smiles for Lewis Hamilton!

Just before the summer break, this twelfth race of the season marked the return of the German Grand Prix, a notable absentee from the 2015 calendar. Two years later, Nico Rosberg returned to Hockenheim on a circuit where he had triumphed previously over Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, who had come back from the back of the grid after an accident in qualifying.

This year, Nico Rosberg was able to replicate such a performance from his pole position, acquired in a single run yesterday afternoon. The local hero (a term contested by Lewis Hamilton ahead of this weekend) had a lot at stake, more than any other driver.

Facing him, Hamilton was on a fine winning streak: five in the last six races. It was therefore necessary for Rosberg to stop the bleeding.

As the formation lap began, observers were discussing the chances of the underdog Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen appeared very convincing during the long runs in Free Practice this Friday. Even more so than the two Mercedes? Everything was still to play for…

Behind Mercedes and Red Bull, the two Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel, starting from the third row, also shouldn’t be forgotten. In seventh position, Hülkenberg was the best of the rest, ready to gather some points. Note also Pascal Wehrlein’s eighteenth place, the fourth German alongside Rosberg, Vettel, and Hülkenberg, representing the largest national contingent of drivers on the grid.

The crowd was therefore present at the time of the installation on the starting grid. In the paddock, there was a distinguished guest, Mick Schumacher, son of Michael, and now a driver in German Formula 4.

At 2 PM, the start of the 67-lap race was initiated!

Jackpot for the drivers on the left side of the track: Hamilton, Verstappen, Vettel benefit!

When the lights went out, another major setback for the poleman: a week after Budapest, the German again lost the benefit of his first place! Worse still, this time he was overtaken not only by Hamilton but also by Verstappen and Ricciardo. This time, the condition of the track was up for debate: all the drivers starting from the outside of the track (on the left) were caught out by their followers.

Fourth after the first round, Rosberg was forced to go on the offensive against Daniel Ricciardo. But the Australian centurion (in the number of Grand Prix contested) showed some moments of fierce resistance.

ROS & RIC wheel to wheel – @redbullracing driver holds off the German to stay third #GermanGP 🇩🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/bKEU5AcHsT

— Formula 1 (@F1) 31 juillet /f1/actualite/21209-allemagne-qualifications-nico-rosberg-simpose-en-force-devant-lewis-hamilton-.html

However, Rosberg also found himself under pressure from the Ferraris right behind. In this regard, Vettel had passed Räikkönen at the start.

The start overall was correct among all the drivers. However, let’s note the contact between Jolyon Palmer and Felipe Massa at the sixth turn chicane, which explained the premature pit stop for the Renault driver to change tires.

The first laps went by and – already – the 22 drivers were suffering from a rapid degradation of their rear tires. Pit stops were noted for Sergio Pérez (9th lap) and also for Carlos Sainz (10th lap).

In the lead, Hamilton was widening the gap on the two Red Bulls. The Englishman had a lead of more than 5 seconds over Verstappen by the 10th lap. His teammate, on the other hand,

Entered the pits on the 12th lap, like Verstappen. Very average stationary time at Mercedes, causing their driver to lose an additional second.

Rosberg pushes hard, alternative strategies among the front-runners.

The wave of the first pit stop was in full swing. With this aggressive strategy, Rosberg found himself in traffic, temporarily sandwiched between the McLarens. At that moment, we were witnessing different tire strategies with Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen on super-soft tires, and Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Räikkönen on soft tires. The race leader entered the pits on the 14th lap after the famous attack lap, called “Hammer time”. Lewis

Hamilton took the gamble with the yellow-banded tires and returned with a good margin over Max Verstappen.

Nico Rosberg, on the other hand, was moving to a “plan b.” This did not prevent him from accumulating the fastest laps, bringing the time down to around 1:20, 1.7 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo.

On the 20th lap, the provisional top 10 consisted of Hamilton leading Verstappen, Ricciardo, Rosberg, Vettel, Räikkönen, Bottas, Hülkenberg, Button, and Gutierrez. The Mexican driver from Haas was the only driver who had not made his first pit stop. However, he lost the benefit of the points in the following laps to Fernando Alonso.

Further on, Grosjean and Massa were battling for a modest fifteenth place. The Brazilian seemed to be struggling with the balance of his car, compromised by his earlier contact with Palmer.

Rosberg second but penalized in his battle with Verstappen.

The challenge of the race between the 25th and 30th laps relied on the progress of Nico Rosberg, who returned to the pits on the 29th lap for his second stop. The Mercedes driver left the pits on soft tires and gained a position a lap later against Max Verstappen, who was also coming out of his second pit stop. LAP 30/67: Feisty pass by ROS on VES at the hairpin – Teenager complains 📺 “He pushed me off the track” #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/41DgwOfrOd— Formula 1 (@F1) 31 juillet /f1/actualite/21209-allemagne-qualifications-nico-rosberg-simpose-en-force-devant-lewis-hamilton-.html

Courageous overtake at the hairpin by Rosberg, who nevertheless forced his opponent wide after the latter had shut the door quite violently. The action, similar to the duel between Mercedes drivers in the last lap of the Austrian Grand Prix, was under investigation by the stewards. And lo and behold, a few minutes later, we learned of a 5-second penalty at the next stop for the German driver! Even so, it was important not to lose focus from his second place. Ricciardo had also pitted on lap 33.

At the 31st and 32nd laps, it was time for Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen to come to a halt. The race then took the turn of a three-stop strategy.

Far from this commotion, Lewis Hamilton was using the super-soft tires for his third tire change. By the 35th lap, past the halfway point of the race, the Briton remained unchallenged in the lead with more than seven seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg.

From now on, it was up to the Red Bulls to make their case, with a third position at stake. Without a fight, Daniel Ricciardo overtook Max Verstappen on the 40th lap. The Australian was visibly faster than the Dutchman and thus capable of challenging Rosberg. Under pressure, the Mercedes driver saw his opponent come back into the DRS zone!

Moreover, he had to serve the 5-second penalty during his third and final pit stop on lap 45: the battle with the Red Bulls was in full swing. Naturally, the ordeal continued for Rosberg, who fell to fourth place after Ricciardo and Verstappen’s pit stops.

Just behind, the Ferraris were running a race from the back. Sebastian Vettel even refused the tire strategy proposed by his race engineer. A cruel acknowledgment of powerlessness for Scuderia, which is on the verge of falling to third place in the hierarchy, behind Red Bull.

On the 48th lap, the leader made a final pit stop to change his tires. The gap slightly decreased with Daniel Ricciardo closing to six seconds behind, with 15 laps remaining. But the Mercedes driver was likely in a management phase, similar to the last race in Hungary. The focus was mainly on monitoring the development of the Ricciardo-Verstappen duel to add some suspense at the top.

And just like seven days ago, Gutierrez makes another friend, this time with Ricciardo, again regarding the blue flags. Despite that, Hamilton continued to increase his lead to head towards the win.

Daniel: “Esteban’s my favourite. I love this guy.” #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/GKXZbXVlha

— Ky (@FiftyBuckss) 31 juillet /f1/actualite/21209-allemagne-qualifications-nico-rosberg-simpose-en-force-devant-lewis-hamilton-.html

The rain as a last-minute guest.

However, a new uncertainty added interest to the end of the race: the possible arrival of a few drops of rain! The race leader officially complained about this drizzle on the 62nd lap, six laps from the finish.

Without batting an eye, Sergio Pérez, who had been rather discreet until then, was battling with Alonso for the very last point in 10th place. A hard blow for the Spanish driver who had been holding strong until then.

On his side, he will have stayed the course: with another good start, Lewis Hamilton bags the maximum points.

Victory for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes at Hockenheim!

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE #GERMANGP!!! WHAT A DRIVE!!! ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS!!! GET IN!!! #F1 #F1istZuruech!!! pic.twitter.com/K3ciBNwBLG

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 31 juillet

49th career victory for the driver with number 44, the third on German soil, but the second at Hockenheim after 2008 (his victory in 2011 took place at Nurburgring). Hamilton now has a 19-point lead over Rosberg as the drivers head off on vacation this very evening.

The Red Bull team also made a good deal with this double podium: they move ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

More information in a few moments…

Here is the official ranking of this German Grand Prix /f1/actualite/21209-allemagne-qualifications-nico-rosberg-simpose-en-force-devant-lewis-hamilton-.html: