Christian Horner, Team Principal: "Fourth and sixth were the absolute maximum we could achieve out of today, especially after the first corner when Daniel did an amazing job to avoid the accident. There was some great racing with Sebastian and Fernando early in the race and he was really our main competitor today. Our strategy worked out that we were able to beat him in the end reasonably comfortably with Sebastian and Daniel came close as well after recovering extremely well and fighting hard with some more great racing towards the end. It was an exciting Grand Prix - there's still a big gap to Mercedes but we're working hard to try and close it down."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "Daniel was unlucky today at the start as he lost positions to avoid the accident and had to rebuild everything during the race. He's done a fantastic job and was quick enough to come back to sixth. Seb had to fight all race to maintain position and he had a lot to do to manage energy and fuel consumption, but it worked fine. All went OK today reliability-wise, which is the first step. We still have a lot to do on performance to be able to reach the podium, but Hungary should suit us a lot better."
Nico Rosberg took a dominating home victory at the German Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton finishing in third position, gaining 17 places from the grid.
Nico took his fourth win of 2014 today and the team's ninth in ten races, taking a lights to flag victory in commanding fashion. Lewis drove a fantastic race to finish on the podium, gaining seventeen places from his grid position and making a total of 15 on-track overtakes.
Nico ran a two-stop strategy, pitting on laps 15 and 41, running option/prime/prime. Lewis converted to a three-stop strategy after sustaining front wing damage, pitting on laps 26, 42 and 50, using prime/prime/option/option.
The team now have more points in the first half of the year (366) than last year's final total (360). Mercedes-Benz power scored its 298th, 299th and 300th F1 podium finishes today; every Mercedes-powered car that finished did so in the points.
Toto Wolff: It feels like a 1-2 today because considering where Lewis was coming from in P20, it was a magical drive. He had a misunderstanding with Jenson that could have cost us the race. Personally I know he is a very competitive guy and he will never be satisfied with third but it felt like a very good performance from our side, with so much going on out on track and the need to convert his pit strategy. For Nico, he was controlling the race from the beginning to the end. He knew that the task was to pull a gap and then bring the car home and that's exactly what he did. It was a brilliant performance from him. It was an amazing race and a credit to Germany; it's clear to see the sport is very much alive and well. Finally, I wish to make two special mentions for this victory: first of all, I offer this win to all of our colleagues at Mercedes-Benz who have given us so much support and dedication to reach this level of performance. We are proud to wear the three-pointed star and to represent the best car company in the world. But our thoughts on every race weekend are also with Michael Schumacher, who did so much for our sport in Germany and won so many times here in Hockenheim. He is fighting as only Michael can and we send all our wishes of strength and support to him and his family.
Paddy Lowe: It was an afternoon we knew was going to be challenging from the outset. Not only to get Lewis from the back to the front but, as always, to get two cars home with a lot of systems to manage and a long race with the threat of rain. Nico drove a faultless race with two stops as we had planned. Lewis' race was a bit more eventful with fantastic overtaking and some great driving. He lost a lot of downforce from the damage to the front wing, so we decided to convert to a three stop strategy in order to give us an opportunity to adjust it and reclaim the aero balance we were missing. We took a gamble on the Safety Car that didn't pay off but did affect our strategy slightly. In the end we were thwarted by the speed of the Williams down the straight, our lap time was faster but we couldn't overtake in the end. Congratulations to Williams on P2 and it was great to see three Mercedes-Benz powered cars on the podium here in Germany.
Marco Mattiacci: "This was a very hard fought race for both the drivers and the team, which confirms the great effort put in by everyone on a weekend that never had a moment's breathing space and in which we did our utmost. Fernando produced another fantastic performance, while we saw encouraging signs from Kimi, which unfortunately did not translate into concrete results. We know the weak points of our car and at every race we are looking for improvements that can also be useful for the new project which is beginning to take shape. Now attention turns to the next round in Hungary. It will be another demanding race, but at the same time another opportunity to improve."
Pat Fry: "It was a very tight race and with both cars, we pushed to the limit trying to make up places. Because of the accident at the start, we made up three places and both Fernando and Kimi drove very aggressively with a lot of spectacular overtaking moves. Behind the scenes, managing all the parameters of the two cars gave us a lot to do, from monitoring traffic, to the choices relating to the pit stops and fuel consumption. Unfortunately, with Kimi it was all more complicated, partly affected by a couple of collisions that damaged his front wing and affected tyre behaviour. In his second stint, we lost a few seconds because of graining, seconds which unfortunately, cost us a points finish. Fernando managed his race very well and thanks to his final move on Ricciardo, he brought home points that are important for the Constructors' Championship. In a few days, we will be back on track in Hungary, a circuit where aerodynamic downforce plays a significant role and where we will try and get the most out of our package."
Romain started from P14 on new soft compound tyres, changing to new super soft tyres after 24 laps. He retired from the race after 26 laps because of an issue with his car's cooling system. Pastor started from nineteenth position on new super soft tyres. He pitted on lap 18 for new super soft tyres and lap 38 for new softs.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "There was great evidence of the team's spirit over the whole weekend in Hockenheim. We lost our suspension system which has meant a new challenge and some long days adapting the car to work in its new configuration. Despite this, we had good race strategies and looked to be managing the tyres well with the pit stop crew making some fantastically fast tyre changes during the course of the race. Pastor drove impeccably all race and was unlucky not to be rewarded with points. Romain drove superbly too, but we weren't able to give him a reliable car today. We have improvements planned for Budapest and hope to perform much better there."
Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: "It was a good drive from Pastor from nineteenth to twelfth. We stretched out the tyre performance lift to make two stops possible rather than the three completed by most other teams as the E22 and Pastor were working well on this strategy. It's a shame we couldn't make up the last couple of places and get some points, but it was a great race from Pastor nonetheless. Unfortunately we had a failure on part of the water system on Romain's car, which we will investigate back at Enstone to ensure it doesn't happen again."
Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: "The team has struggled to get a good balance on the car all weekend. It was always going to be a hard race from our starting positions so Pastor did a good job to get into 12th. On Romain's car a cooling issue caused some problems and the team stopped it to avoid further damage to the Power Unit. All eyes forward to Hungary now."
This was a day that promised much, but delivered comparatively little. From fourth on the grid, Kevin Magnussen looked set for a strong race, but was unable to avoid being clipped by Felipe Massa as he drove into the first corner. The resultant accident, and the knock-on requirement to stop for tyres and a replacement nosebox, relegated him to the back of the field.
Nonetheless, he posted a calm and relentless comeback drive to take eighth at the chequer. It could have been more.
By contrast, Jenson Button's race started strongly - from 11th on the grid, he was sixth at the end of lap one - but faded in the middle as his third set of tyres proved unable to last to the finish. A late-race third stop, on lap 61, gave him the rubber to get home, but meant he couldn't improve on ninth.
Still, it was encouraging to note that, despite the setbacks, both cars ran competitively in the top 10 for most of the race. Equally, Jenson's second pitstop of the afternoon established a new team record of 2.15s stationary. That beats our previous record of 2.20s - also set with Jenson's car - at last year's Spanish Grand Prix.
Finally, today's race also saw Jenson start his 257th grand prix - a statistic that moves him past Riccardo Patrese [256] and into third in the all-time rankings, behind Michael Schumacher [306] and Rubens Barrichello [322].
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "Obviously, we're extremely disappointed with this result. This should have been a day when we scored a useful clutch of world championship points; instead, we go home having lost ground to all our key rivals, which is extremely frustrating.
"Kevin's turn one incident at the start was very unfortunate; he'd made a great getaway, and was pushing to stay close to Valtteri Bottas. Massa was on the outside and probably didn't see Kevin, who was on the inside line, and had nowhere to go. Kevin was quite blameless in the accident, so it's even more annoying that it destroyed his chances of finishing in the top four.
"However, I think Kevin deserves commending for the level-headed drive he posted thereafter; with the promise of a good result lost, and having been relegated to the very back, it would have been very easy to lose focus, but Kevin drove with great maturity. Two points is scant reward, but he worked hard for them today.
"Jenson drove well, too; he showed tremendous fighting spirit even when the odds were somewhat stacked against him. His was a very aggressive strategy, which, as the race wore on, we began to appreciate wasn't going to succeed. Despite some great defending, Jenson was ultimately powerless to stop other drivers from leapfrogging him as his tyres faded away.
"We've worked hard to get ourselves into a situation where we can score good points regularly, so today was disappointing. Still, the Hungarian Grand Prix is but one week away, and we'll be doing our best to score some good points before the onset of the summer break."
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "We were expecting to be stronger in the race today, but the drop in temperatures didn't help us and both drivers struggled to show the pace we had seen during our long runs on Friday. Sergio did not feel comfortable and it became clear early on that he would need to stop three times. With Nico we managed a two-stop race and he brought the car home in seventh place. Considering the challenges we faced today, we can't be disappointed to come away with seven points. It keeps us in fifth place in the standings and demonstrates once again that we can score good points even on days when both drivers are struggling with the balance. We now look forward to Budapest where more warm weather is forecast next weekend."
Esteban Gutierrez finished the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring in 14th. Adrian Sutil retired in lap 48 after spinning out in the last corner. It was a race in which the team had the chance to score a point.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "The race showed that our competitiveness has slightly improved, although we know that our level is certainly not satisfying yet. We had the chance to gain one point and it is a pity that we could not take advantage of this due to two unfortunate incidents. At first we suffered from a wrong driver procedure, following that the driver spun in the final corner and we still have to investigate the reasons for that. However, there were positive aspects and we need to deploy the insights we have gained and take every opportunity that comes up."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "Both our cars started on the supersoft tyres, which was meant to boost our chances on lap one, and worked well. When the Safety Car went in, Adrian was in P10 and Esteban in P13. Then we went to a split strategy with Adrian on soft and Esteban on supersoft tyres, which gave us a solid basis to make the right decisions for the second part of the race. This turned out to be the right decision. The drivers were racing close to each other and were able to keep up with our competition. Adrian's race ended on lap 48 after the final pit stop due to a wrong driver procedure, following that the driver spun in the final corner and we still have to investigate the reasons for that. Esteban lost some positions on track, so in the end the result was not different from what we have had before, nevertheless there are some encouraging signs concerning our performance."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Daniil's race was compromised by the collision with Perez. We had to call him in to change the tyres but the right hand side of his car was damaged which had a big impact on the aero-balance. So from this moment onwards he was no longer able to keep the pace. Unfortunately he could not finish the race because of a drive train failure, which we are still investigating. Jean-Eric showed a good performance, especially at the beginning of the race until the overtaking manoeuvre with Grosjean. Coming out from corner six he went off the track with four wheels and therefore the stewards decided to give him a five seconds stop-and-go penalty, which he paid during his second pit stop. With the supersoft, he started to suffer from heavy front left graining, which slowed him down. Of course, for Jev to finish thirteenth is disappointing and after Daniil's good P8 result in his Qualifying session yesterday, we were expecting some points today. We have now a lot of work in front of us until the next race in Budapest, where we hope to show a better performance."
Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "Today was a missed opportunity as our car performed yesterday and the team deserved to score a couple of points. Jev's car worked well but his penalty pushed us out of the top ten. Daniil was really unlucky to spin in the first part of the race and then to retire in such a dramatic way. The issue is still under investigation but we believe it was an ignition problem that resulted in unburnt fuel igniting in the exhausts."
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We have only one car home today, so we are not as happy as we could be. However, Valtteri did a fantastic job and the guys on the pitwall were exceptional. We kept calm and did what we needed to do. Our strategy at times was different to others, but we kept our confidence and Valtteri pushed when we needed him to. We have overtaken Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship which is the reward for our continuing improvements. We just need that bad luck for Felipe to stop as our aim now is to get both cars on the podium.
The Marussia F1 Team delivered a solid two-car finish in Hockenheim today, with Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton ending the 67 lap German Grand Prix in 15th and 17th places respectively.
Following two days of very high ambient and track temperatures, the weather turned for race day, with cooler conditions but the threatened rain remaining clear of the circuit.
John Booth, Team Principal: "After a difficult start to the weekend we can at least be pleased that we have got back to a point that is fairly similar to the level of performance we have seen in recent races. After an issue at the start, which we are yet to fully understand, Jules was at least able to make progress after the safety car and from that point on he was in a fairly lonely race, although the mix of strategies of our two-stop versus the Sauber's three-stop did at least throw up some opportunities. Unfortunately Max had a delay at his first pit stop, which put him behind Kobayashi and from this point he was stuck. Again we can see the situation is clear that we need several tenths in order to move forward. This weekend we have seen the gap widen slightly and we look forward now to carrying on making progress refining the set-up on Friday in Budapest."
Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: "It has been a very intense German Grand Prix, which ended with a result in line with expectations. Honestly it was difficult to achieve more today. From the point of view of reliability it has been a tough weekend, especially since the first the temperatures during the first two days were very high. Today the situation was improved thanks to the cloud cover, which has definitely helped. Now we are looking forward to another weekend on the track, this time in Hungary; a last effort before we can catch our breath during the summer break. At each race there is always something new to learn to try to get a better performance from a power unit as complex as that of this year and, at the same time maintain the highest level of reliability. One thing is certain: we got to the middle of the season and the Ferrari-powered Marussia is ninth in the Constructors' classification. We will do everything to help the team to remain in this position until the end of the season and develop further in terms of competitiveness."
Rosberg's team mate Lewis Hamilton made up 17 places by finishing third, having started from 20th on the grid due to an accident in qualifying. Hamilton moved from a two to a three-stop strategy in the race, starting with two stints on the soft tyre and using the extra speed of the supersoft for his final two stints. His last supersoft tyre stint was 17 laps, during which he set fastest lap. This enabled him to close up to Bottas in the closing stages and finish only 22 seconds behind Rosberg, despite a damaged front wing.
The frontrunners on the grid all started on the supersoft tyre, which was around a second per lap faster than the soft tyre. Track temperatures were more than 20 degrees centigrade lower than they had been over the past two days, giving the teams a new dimension, but the expected risk of rain did not materialise. The drivers were able to push as hard as they could with some very close racing from start to finish: the gap at the end between Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and sixth was less than a tenth of a second, after 306 kilometres of racing.
Paul Hembery: "With conditions being a lot cooler than they had been previously, the teams were working in a somewhat unknown area when it came to tyre behaviour compared to the previous two days. We saw plenty of close racing - sometimes very close racing - that also affected tyre wear and degradation. As expected there were between two and three pit stops, with two of the podium finishers, including the winner, stopping just twice. Although he stopped one more time than his direct rivals, Hamilton's strategy allowed him to come right into contention from a long way down the grid. Our choice of the soft and supersoft ensured plenty of action and some exciting battles from start to finish, despite several different strategies being played out."
Truth-O-Meter
We said that either a two or three stopper was possible, with a two-stop supersoft-supersoft-soft strategy most likely, stopping on laps 18 and 38. Rosberg adopted a slightly different strategy, starting on the supersoft and completing two stints on the soft tyre, making his first stop on lap 15 and his second stop on lap 41.
