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Lewis Hamilton regained the Formula One championship lead in unexpected and dramatic fashion on Sunday, winning the German Grand Prix after race leader Sebastian Vettel crashed and then surviving an investigation into his own driving.
Hamilton was summoned to speak to stewards to explain a move late in the race, where he went to the pits and then aborted his move. He escaped with a reprimand and so kept his win, his fourth this season and 66th overall.
“It’s been the most emotional day, up and down. No one ever wants to go see the stewards because they have the hardest job,” a relieved Hamilton said. “I was just 100 percent open with them. They could see how confusing it was.”
The incident came while the safety car was deployed following Vettel’s sudden crash. Hamilton decided against pitting at the last second and crossed the grass to rejoin the track which is prohibited.
“I just slowed down and trundled over some grass and tried to join the track as safely as I could,” said Hamilton, who finished ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Governing body FIA said it cleared Hamilton, who faced a five-second time penalty which would have handed Bottas the victory, because ‘driver and the team candidly admitted the mistake’ and ‘at no time was there any danger to any other competitor’.
Earlier, heavy rain played havoc at the Hockenheimring as Vettel misjudged a basic entry into a turn and slid over the gravel into the barriers with 15 laps to go.
The four-time Formula One champion started from pole position and seemed in control. His mishap opened the door wide open for Hamilton, who is 17 points clear of Vettel after trailing by eight beforehand.
The British driver was fourth at the time of Vettel’s sudden lapse, having started from 14th on the grid because of a hydraulic problem in qualifying.
“I’ve never experienced a race quite like this,” Hamilton said. “I knew sitting on the grid that I had to catch the guys at the front – that was my goal.
I would never have thought you could do something like that today but I just kept pushing, I kept believing and it happened. I prayed as I always do before the race, and it feels like those prayers were answered. It’s been a real dream and a day I’ll always remember.”
Bottas started and finished second, with Kimi Raikkonen taking third for Ferrari.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull, but teammate Daniel Ricciardo retired after rising from last on the grid to seventh.
Vettel’s incident led to a safety car coming out for several laps. When the race resumed, with about 10 laps left, Bottas almost overtook Hamilton.
Shortly after, Bottas was firmly told on team radio to ‘hold position’ and not challenge Hamilton. “Taking positives as a team, perfect result for us,” said Bottas, who added, seemingly half-heartedly, that he ‘understood’ the call. “I would have loved to win this race, but at the moment I’m very happy for us at the team – it’s a perfect result here at the home race for Mercedes in Germany.”
Ferrari made a call, too, at Raikkonen’s expense. With a little more than 20 of the 67 laps to go, he was leading Vettel, who complained of his tyres overheating.
Ferrari’s senior performance engineer, Jock Clear, told Raikkonen not to hold up Vettel. Raikkonen replied: “I’m sorry but can you be direct? What do you want?” After another indirect message, Raikkonen added: “So you want me to let him (past)? Please. Just tell me.”
He eventually did, ending the Finnish driver’s hopes of a first win since the season-opening Australian GP in 2013. Asked about the instructions, Raikkonen said “it wasn’t clear, I had the speed.”
Hamilton’s win moved him level with F1 great Michael Schumacher on four German GP wins. Vettel had won once before in Germany, at the Nuerburgring, but has never won at Hockenheim. He grew up less than 30 minutes away, in Heppenheim, and may never get a better chance amid doubts over future F1 races.
Even though Vettel has won four Formula One titles and 51 races, he is still prone to worrying lapses of concentration.
The Ferrari driver accepted his small mistake at Sunday’s German Grand Prix cost his team in a big way, and gifted Hamilton and Mercedes a victory they could hardly have expected.
“I threw it away. It was my mistake. We had the pace and we controlled the race for most of it,” Vettel said. “We had the race in the bag.”
Vettel, who made key mistakes last season as Hamilton secured the title, seemed keen to use the rain as a factor for his crash on Sunday.
“We didn’t need the rain,” he said. Vettel climbed out of the car and kicked the gravel in frustration.
Vettel and Hamilton are both chasing a fifth F1 crown to move level with Argentine great Juan Manuel Fangio and go two behind record-holder Michael Schumacher.
After the Azerbaijan GP in June 2017, Hamilton publicly spoke about his rival’s apparent vulnerability under pressure as something he could exploit.
Vettel needs to bounce back strongly at the Hungarian GP this weekend, or Hamilton will take the momentum into the summer break.
