Nico Rosberg claimed victory for Mercedes at a thrilling German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Rosberg coasted to the win while behind him there were scraps up and down the field, with Valtteri Bottas resisting a charging Lewis Hamilton to claim second. The Brit started from 20th but flew through the field to complete the podium places.
The Safety Car was immediately deployed at the start when Kevin Magnussen and Felipe Massa made contact at the first corner, causing the Brazilian to flip. Massa was uninjured in the incident, which also forced Daniel Ricciardo to take avoiding action and drop down the order. The Stewards investigated the collision but decided that no further action was warranted.
The Safety Car came back in after a few laps and Rosberg quickly extended his advantage over Bottas, with Sebastian Vettel in third and Fernando Alonso in fourth. Ricciardo and Hamilton both began their fight back through the field as they dispensed with slower rivals.
Sergio Pérez and Daniil Kvyat battled over seventh place and while the Russian had a go at the hairpin, he tried again into turn eight but didn’t leave enough room and was clipped by the Force India driver, dropping to 16th as a result.
The actin continued following the first round of stops. Rosberg retained his lead, ahead of the yet to pit Hamilton, while Vettel came out of the pits narrowly ahead of Alonso and just behind Kimi Räikkönen. The Red Bull driver made a move on the Finn as they approached the hairpin and they made minor contact, with Räikkönen bouncing into Alonso. All three continued, with Alonso ahead of Räikkönen.
Bottas passed Hamilton for second with a move into the hairpin on lap 19 before the Brit stopped a few laps later, emerging in eighth place. He passed Ricciardo into the hairpin before getting Button – albeit after damaging his front wing during an initial failed attempt. The Brit then dispatched with Nico Hülkenberg to move into fifth.
Alonso stopped for a second time and when Vettel responded, the German was unable to prevent his rival from making a move into the hairpin. They both passed Hülkenberg with ease and ran nose-to-tail for several laps. Hamilton took his second stop and emerged in fifth.
Vettel stopped for a third time, as did Hamilton, with Mercedes anticipating a Safety Car period when Adrian Sutil spun and stopped at the final corner. But the German’s car was recovered by some brave marshals and the racing continued.
Rosberg led Bottas by almost 20 seconds with Alonso in third and Hamilton charging in fourth. Hamilton eased through on Alonso, who responded by diving into the pits for a third time. He emerged in seventh, behind the battling Button and Ricciardo. The Red Bull driver went up the inside into turn eight to climb into fifth. Alonso soon caught up with Ricciardo and the pair embarked on a furious scrap for several laps before it was eventually settled in the Spaniard’s favour.
Hamilton sliced the gap to Bottas but was trumped by the superior straight line speed of the Williams and had to settle for third.
Up front, Rosberg claimed victory by 20 seconds, ahead of Bottas and Hamilton. Vettel came in fourth, with Alonso and Ricciardo separated by hundredths as they came across the line. Hülkenberg was seventh, while Button, Magnussen and Pérez rounded out the top 10.
Position | Number | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 67 | Winner | 1 | 25 |
2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 67 | +20.7 secs | 2 | 18 |
3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 67 | +22.5 secs | 20 | 15 |
4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 67 | +44.0 secs | 6 | 12 |
5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 67 | +52.4 secs | 7 | 10 |
6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 67 | +52.5 secs | 5 | 8 |
7 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 67 | +64.1 secs | 9 | 6 |
8 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 67 | +84.7 secs | 11 | 4 |
9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 66 | +1 Lap | 4 | 2 |
10 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 66 | +1 Lap | 10 | 1 |
11 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | +1 Lap | 12 | ||
12 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | +1 Lap | 18 | ||
13 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | +1 Lap | 13 | ||
14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | +1 Lap | 16 | ||
15 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | +1 Lap | 17 | ||
16 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | +2 Lap | 19 | ||
17 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | +2 Lap | 21 | ||
18 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | +2 Lap | 22 | ||
Ret | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | +20 Laps | 15 | ||
Ret | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | STR-Renault | +23 Laps | 8 | ||
Ret | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | +41 Laps | 14 | ||
Ret | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | +67 Laps | 3 |