Hamilton secures brilliant win at the Nurburgring

Lewis Hamilton secured his second win of the year and 16th of his career yesterday when he confirmed McLaren’s renaissance with a brilliant victory in the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The 26-year-old, 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.

Hamilton 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 Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari.

The two-times champion, who had won the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, finished a strong second ahead of Mark Webber, the pole-sitter, of Red Bull and his team-mate and defending champion Sebastian Vettel, in fourth, after a superb final pit stop.

It was runaway leader Vettel’s worst finish of a dominant season and signalled that, at last, the Red Bull team have a battle on their hands in the second half of the year.

Felipe Massa came home fifth for Ferrari ahead of Adrian Sutil of Force India, Nico Rosberg, of Mercedes, and his team-mate Michael Schumacher.

Kamui Kobayashi was ninth for Sauber, after starting 17th, and Vitaly Petrov 10th for Renault.

Alonso stopped out on the track on the slow-down and had to hitch a lift, sitting on Webber’s car, back to the pit lane as he ran out of fuel.

Vettel remains out in front of the title race by 77 points with 216 ahead of Webber on 139 and Hamilton, now third, on 134. Alonso is fourth on 130.

Damp track

On a cold, damp day, the track temperature was only 15 degrees Celsius and the air temperature just 12 degrees as rain fell before the start.

It was not enough to create serious problems as Hamilton demonstrated by accelerating off the grid to lead into the first corner ahead of pole-sitter Webber.

Hamilton, enjoying the revitalised pace in his car, opened up a 2.2 seconds lead by lap four, but Webber then responded and reduced it to seven-tenths by lap 11.

Alonso regained third on lap eight with a daring passing move on Vettel at turn one and the German then spun on lap 10, when he ran over white lines in the wet conditions, flat-spotting his tyres.

Hamilton and Webber then conducted a thrilling duel at the front with Alonso close behind, with a box-seat view, as the Australian took the lead when Hamilton ran deep at turn 15 before responding with a bold pass inside turn one on lap 13.

“Could you stop talking to me while I’m racing,” Hamilton snapped on the team radio.

Webber opened a 1.3-second gap at the front on Hamilton who was the same time ahead of Alonso by lap 22 when a struggling Vettel managed to pass Massa for sixth.

The second round of pit stops saw Webber dive in first. Hamilton led and pitted after 31 laps emerging to fight and retain his lead while Alonso pitted and emerged in front, briefly, before the inspired Briton charged round him.

This left Hamilton in front ahead of Alonso and Webber after 35 laps and it stayed that way as the conditions, of weather and grip, improved until Hamilton made his final stop after 51 laps.

Alonso led for two laps and then he also pitted leaving Webber out in front on used soft tyres as Hamilton and Alonso chased him down.

Webber came in, finally, with three laps to go leaving Hamilton ahead of Alonso as they ran towards the chequered flag.

German Grand Prix result

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) - 1hr 37min 30.334sec
2. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) at 3.980 seconds
3. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) - 9.788
4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) - 47.921
5. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) - 52.252
6. Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India) - 1:26.208
7. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes GP) - 1 lap
8. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes GP) - 1 lap
9. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) - 1 lap
10. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Lotus-Renault) - 1 lap
11. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) - 1 lap
12. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/Toro Rosso) - 1 lap
13. Paul di Resta (SCO/Force India) - 1 lap
14. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams F1) - 1 lap
15. Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso) - 1 lap
16. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Lotus) - 1 lap
17. Timo Glock (GER/Virgin Racing) - 3 laps
18. Jerome d’Ambrosio (BEL/Virgin Racing) - 3 laps
19. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Hispania) - 3 laps
20. Karun Chandhok (IND/Lotus) - 4 laps

Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, July 31.

Standings

Drivers’ championship
1. Vettel 216 points, 2. Webber 139, 3. Hamilton 134, 4. Alonso 130, 5. Button 109, 6. Massa 62, 7. Rosberg 46, 8. Heidfeld 34, 9. Petrov 32, 10. Schumacher 32, 11. Kobayashi 27, 12. Sutil 18, 13. Alguersuari 9, 14. Perez 8, 15. Buemi 8, 16. Barrichello 4, 17. Di Resta 2.

Constructors
1. Red Bull 355 points, 2. McLaren 243, 3. Ferrari 192, 4. Mercedes GP 78, 5. Lotus-Renault 66, 6. Sauber 35, 7. Force India 20, 8. Toro Rosso 17, 9. Williams F1 Team 4.