The ink had barely dried on Lewis Hamilton’s lucrative new Mercedes deal, yet as he started the German Grand Prix in 14th, the odds were against him pulling off something incredibly special to beat 1st placed Vettel. The wonderful thing about sport and F1 is that anything can happen and as the rain came down in Hockenheim, Hamilton pulled off a stunning finish to regain his place at the top of the F1 Driver Standings.
Hamilton started 14th on the grid
It had all looked so promising for Vettel after an impressive Qualifying gained him the pole position. Hamilton looked well and truly out of the reckoning after a mechanical failure left him to start 14th on the grid. Not even the most optimistic of Hamilton fans would have expected their hero to be able to recover from that.
Hailed as an F1 miracle
Hamilton performed what is being hailed as an F1 miracle, where rain gave him a helping hand. As he stood on the podium in torrential rain amid flashes of lightning, you couldn’t help but feel there had been some form of divine intervention, with Hamilton himself referring to it as a ‘biblical storm.’
Vettel led the race for so long but the rain turned out to be the reason behind his demise. Raikkonen pitted before Vettel and he did not get the orders for the pass until lap 39, which took its toll on Vettel’s rubber. As the rain got heavier, he lost control at turn 13 and was out of the race. Then the safety car came out and Hamilton took his opportunity as both Bottas and Raikkonen pitted. Hamilton had gone in on lap 42.
Hamilton reprimanded
Despite astonishingly winning the race, he was made to wait for confirmation of his victory, following the controversial incident where he had veered out of the pit lane entry back onto the track. The decision was taken that he would be given a reprimand rather than a time penalty, allowing him to take a 17-point lead over Vettel going into the summer break. It doesn’t get much more exciting than the drama that unfolded in Germany.