Lewis today took his 49th career victory - his second at the Hockenheim Circuit and sixth of the 2016 season so far. Nico fought back from a slow start to reach P2 before a five second penalty dropped him back to P4 at the flag.
Lewis (217) leads the Drivers' Championship by 19 points from Nico (198) in P2. Mercedes AMG Petronas (415) lead Red Bull (256) by 159 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: First of all, what a fantastic drive from Lewis and a great feeling to win the German Grand Prix once again with Mercedes. This has been a very special weekend for the team and Lewis delivered a pretty perfect drive today: great start, great speed, great management. He's gone from a big deficit to now leading the championship, so it's been a very good streak. We have seen these waves of momentum in both directions and he is riding the crest right now. But as well as the sweet part of the afternoon, for Nico it was more bitter. The start didn't go well for him with big wheel spin but then he struggled for pace in the race, too. There were two big talking points. First the penalty. I think you will find lots of opinions but what we really look for is consistency in the decision making. Sometimes you see cars battling and there is no consequence, other times penalties are handed out. Today's felt tough because I think the fans want to see hard racing - and that's what it was. Then there was the pit stop to serve the penalty. In such a high-tech sport, we don't often have to use a stop watch in a manual process. Today, it didn't start, so we had to take the safe option to make sure Nico observed the right amount of time. Sometimes these things happen. Overall, I think we can be very pleased with our first part of the year. 11 wins from 12 is a nice statistic to take into the summer break - but we know that our rivals are continuing to improve, too. We will take the break, recharge the batteries and come back with fresh energy in Spa.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): First, huge congratulations to Lewis and the team for a great victory at our home race here in Germany in front of our very supportive colleagues from Mercedes-Benz. It was enormously important to us to do a great job here, representing the 280,000 Mercedes employees worldwide. Lewis managed the race faultlessly from start to finish - delivering pace when necessary and saving the tyres when required. The pit crew, too, did a great job on all three of his stops, allowing him to maintain the gap he had worked hard to build to those behind. For Nico, it was a less straightforward afternoon. His clutch was over-engaged at the start, leading to excessive wheel spin and an instant drop to P4. That gave us some work to do to get him back up to second - which we managed through a combination of a good strategy and some bold overtaking on Nico's part. Unfortunately, he was then given a five second penalty for the latter - which dropped him back once more. We did lose some time in the box as we took more safety margin than was required. But, as it turned out, this didn't affect the result. It became clear quite soon into the final stint that we didn't have the pace to compensate for the penalty. We were hoping that, with no soft tyres remaining, we would manage to catch and pass the Red Bulls at the end once they ran out of rubber on the super soft - but to their credit they managed it very well, so all respect to them. As they say in motorsport, you're only as good as your last race - so it's good to have something to savour over the next month, as that's something we hadn't managed in either of the previous two seasons. A very nice way to pick up the holidays, which will provide everyone with a very well-earned break before we come back even harder in the second half of the season.
Maurizio Arrivabene: While one week ago, in Hungary, our race pace was totally respectable, here in Hockenheim we experienced again some issues with both mechanical grip and downforce, which unfortunately are not unknown to us. Obviously, we must react as quickly as possible to cure these problems and most of all we must lose not to too much time in the process. Having been jumped in the Constructors' championship only pushes us to react, and perform better in the second part of the season, after the summer break.
Valtteri Bottas finished 9th whilst Felipe Massa retired from the German Grand Prix. Felipe started P10 but was clipped on the opening lap by Palmer's Renault which affected the car's pace. The issue couldn't be identified or resolved during the race, therefore he was forced to retire on lap 36.
As a result of Hulkenberg's one-place grid penalty, Valtteri started today's race from P7 on the supersoft tyre. He moved up to P5 in the early stages of the race, benefitting from his competitors pitting, before dropping back to P7 ahead of Hulkenberg. Following Hulkenberg's final stop Valtteri was 15 seconds clear of the Force India but with severely worn tyres Valtteri wasn't able to hold onto the position and fell to P9, ahead of Perez, in the closing stages of the race.
Both drivers retain their positon in the Drivers' Championships with Valtteri in seventh and Felipe in ninth, while the team stays fourth in the Constructors' Championship, 15 points clear of nearest rivals Force India.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Felipe was hit in the rear in Turn 6 on lap one and there wasn't a great deal we could do from then on. We were trying to understand what the problem was as Felipe was completely off the pace and complaining about the car. There was no alternative other than to retire because he was towards the back of the field and struggling. With Valtteri, we tried a strategy which clearly didn't work. We deployed the wrong tactics in the race, which is something we've got to learn from. As a group of people, we get it right most of the time, but today we didn't. We thought the tyres would go to the end but they didn't and so ninth was the best we could achieve, unfortunately. It hasn't been a great day but this is where we see the mettle of everyone moving forward and make sure we don't let our heads go down. We'll carry on improving and trying to do the absolute maximum that we can do with the car that we've got. We'll keep pushing on.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A fantastic team performance today, particularly from the drivers starting from the second row of the grid. After they both made strong starts, Daniel gave Max just enough space at turn one, though it looked pretty tight and from there on the drivers settled in to their race. We elected at the first stop to split the strategies, putting Daniel on to the soft tyre and Max on to the supersoft, so they were both running slightly different races. When we pitted Max to cover Rosberg he did manage to get a run on him and then obviously Rosberg picked up a time penalty down at turn six, so the objective thereafter was for both drivers to clear him at the pit stop. With Daniel being on the faster supersoft tyre, he quickly closed on Max who allowed him to pass after the request from the team, to not lose any time, allowing them both to get out ahead of Rosberg at the final pit stop. To finish up second and third on the podium here at Hockenheim, to have outscored Ferrari and go into the summer break with a 14 point advantage over them in the Constructors' Championship is a great end to a really strong first half of the year. Time for a well-earned break for all of the team, to recharge their batteries and come back for the final nine races, where there are circuits on the calendar that will hopefully suit us. We've exceeded all of our expectations in the first half of the season. I don't think pre-season any of us could have imagined to have been second in the Constructors' Championship after 11 rounds."
Sahara Force India scored seven points in today's German Grand as Nico Hulkeberg raced to seventh place and Sergio Perez finished in tenth place.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "It's satisfying to move five points closer to fourth place in the championship and end the first half of the season with a double points finish. When you look at how the race unfolded, there wasn't much more available to us and the team did an excellent strategic job to help Nico come out on top in the battle against Bottas. Sergio's race became a recovery drive following a very poor getaway and, all things considered, the team did a good job to pick up the final point. The stage is now set for a very close battle in the second part of the season, but we feel we can grow even stronger in the races to come following the break."
Renault Sport Formula One Team didn't enjoy the German Grand Prix that it wanted today at the Hockenheimring. Starting 14th on the grid, Jolyon Palmer made a decent start, however flat-spotted his tyres then made contact with a rival on the first lap. This necessitated an early pit stop, and a tough race pushing hard from behind ensued. Kevin Magnussen worked up the order early on, although better-than-expected performance from three-stopping rivals meant his hard work was undone in the latter stages of the 67 lap race. Kevin finished in sixteenth, Jolyon in nineteenth.
Kevin started the race from P16 with new set of Pirelli's red supersoft tyres. He changed to new supersofts on lap 11 then new soft compound (yellow) tyres on lap 32. Jolyon started the race in P14 on new supersoft tyres. He changed to new softs at the end of the first lap then scrubbed supersofts on laps 25 and 45.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: "Despite not getting the result we wanted today there are a lot of positive to take from this weekend. We reached Q2 in qualifying with Jolyon and we showed that we are able to regularly fight with Haas and Toro Rosso during races, which wasn't the case in previous events. Both drivers fought hard today however neither was able to finish strongly. The two stop strategy ultimately didn't work out for Kevin due to timing and better than expected pace from our rivals in the latter part of the race. Jolyon made a super start but unfortunately flat-spotted his tyres so wasn't able to deliver on the potential shown from his qualifying. We'll come back after the break fighting."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "Definitely not the way we wanted to end the first half of the season... If I say the truth, we were hoping for a better result today - in the end, we didn't score any points while our direct competitors did. We lost some time during our pit-stops and, even though the drivers were fighting hard, the car just didn't have the pace to finish in the top ten. As we scored points in nearly all the last races, we need to investigate why it wasn't possible to do the same today. Having said that, I'm positive that we can be back in the points in the second half of the season. We just need to continue working hard. The summer break will be very useful for everyone and I expect the team to be refreshed and fully motivated to kick-off the second half of the year at Spa and at our home race in Monza."
The Sauber F1 Team finished the German Grand Prix with Marcus Ericsson in P18. Felipe Nasr had to stop his Sauber C35-Ferrari on lap 58 due to a technical issue. After the factory shutdown (8th until 21st August), the Sauber F1 Team will introduce further updates on the car side.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "A difficult weekend for us, which started off well, but ended on Sunday in P18 as well as with a retirement. Now we will turn our focus to the races after the summer break, where we bring new parts on the car side. We do expect an improvement in terms of the performance of the Sauber C35-Ferrari."
The McLaren-Honda team heads into Formula 1's summer break having scored an encouraging eighth-place result in the German Grand Prix - the team's seventh points-scoring finish of the season.
Both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso ran measured races inside the top 10 for almost the entire duration, but whereas Jenson was able to capitalise in the closing laps - moving from ninth to eighth two laps from home - Fernando fell back, dropping from 10th to 12th at the chequer.
Today's performance was a validation of the efforts of the entire team over the weekend: following two tricky days of practice, the package came together today and underlined the developing pace of the McLaren-Honda partnership.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "Jenson drove faultlessly today, showing all his authority and intelligence to push throughout the entire race, moving into a well-deserved eighth position - after overtaking Valtteri Bottas - right at the very end. His was a fantastic effort.
"Fernando also looked set for a points finish, and was running 10th, closing on Jenson, when he began losing pace in the closing laps as he battled to save fuel and manage the tyres. His 12th position wasn't a fair reflection of his efforts this afternoon.
"Still, after a tricky two days of practice, it was heartening to see our improved pace in the race.
"As we head into Formula 1's traditional summer shutdown, I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the hard work, dedication and efforts of the entire team. These past six grands prix have seen an unbelievable amount of work from our mechanics, engineers, hospitality team and riggers - many of those people have not seen their homes or their loved ones for many weeks. I now sincerely hope that everyone can get some well-earned rest and recuperation - well away from the Formula 1 paddock - before returning for the next race, in Belgium, in one month's time."
Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer: "In comparison to yesterday's qualifying, we were able to show better race pace today, and I am happy that Jenson and the team were able to score points with a P8 finish.
"It was a very difficult race for both the team and drivers, trying to manage on-track battles, fuel-saving and tyre management. Fernando also had very good race pace, but due to this, he was obliged to manage his fuel and pace at the end of the race while trying to hold off his rivals. He fought a tough fight, but was unable to maintain his position and finished in P12.
"Looking back at the last few races, we are now confident that our progress is definitely headed in the right direction, and we're now aiming to make another step forward in the early part of the second half of the season.
"Last but not least, I would like to thank every member of the McLaren-Honda team for their brilliant work in this long and gruelling first half of the season. I hope everyone enjoys their time off and can come back refreshed for the latter half."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "It's really good to end the first half of the season on a positive note and with a good team result at Pascal and Mercedes-Benz' home Grand Prix. Our strategy worked well and our performance was strong versus the cars around us, which enabled us to displace Sauber and a Renault. We did pick up a bit of damage on both cars when we had contact between our two drivers, which was less than ideal, but fortunately it didn't hurt our race as much as it could and obviously we need to avoid that in the future and focus on the fight with our competitors. As we embark on the summer break, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the team - trackside and back at base - for a tremendous effort in the first 12 races. It has been a real challenge and a huge amount of hard work, but we head into the shutdown period with our first point and ahead of Sauber in the championship. I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed in four weeks' time so we can keep things that way."
Haas F1 Team drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Romain Grosjean drove to hard-fought 11th- and 13th-place finishes, respectively, in the German Grand Prix Sunday at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Wurttemberg.
While the effort did not yield a point-paying result, it was still a strong showing from the American team as both drivers had to rally from deep within the 22-car field. Gutierrez got bottlenecked at the start and dropped to 18th while Grosjean started the 67-race from 20th after incurring a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change on Saturday.
The duo employed a two-stop strategy, but with differing tire selections. Gutierrez started the race using the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tire and Grosjean started with the Red supersoft. Pit stops began on lap eight, but the Haas F1 Team drivers stayed on the 4.574-kilometer (2.842-mile), 17-turn circuit for as long as they could before making their first stops, allowing each to gain considerable track position.
Grosjean came in for his first stop at the end of lap 17 after climbing to eighth. Gutierrez was the last driver to make his first stop, hitting pit lane at the end of lap 25 after rising to 12th. Grosjean went with a new set of Yellow softs while Gutierrez switched to Red supersofts.
The pit cycle dropped each driver in the running order, but by the race's halfway mark with other teams' pit strategies playing out, the Haas F1 Team duo was running together, with Grosjean 12th and Gutierrez 13th.
The team's final round of pit stops began on lap 43 when Grosjean came in for a switch to Red supersofts. Gutierrez followed at the end of lap 47, also taking Red supersofts.
While both drivers were a lap down after their pit cycles, they remained on the cusp of the top-10, with Gutierrez 14th and Grosjean 15th with 16 laps remaining. Each driver made separate, masterful passes to get around the Renault of Kevin Magnussen, with Gutierrez overtaking him on lap 52 and Grosjean doing the same on lap 55.
The moves, along with Carlos Sainz Jr. bringing his Toro Rosso to pit lane for his final stop, allowed Gutierrez and Grosjean to climb to 12th and 13th, respectively.
Opportunity still beckoned with three laps remaining as 10th-place Fernando Alonso began to fade after pushing his McLaren's tires to their limit. Force India's Sergio Perez picked him off for 10th and as Alonso continued to back up, Gutierrez was able to nab 11th on the final lap. Time ran out before Grosjean could catch Alonso, preventing him from picking up an additional spot before the checkered flag fell.
Twelve rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings with 28 points. However, seventh-place McLaren widened the gap over the American team to 14 points via Jensen Button's eighth-place finish. Haas F1 Team's 22-point advantage over ninth-place Renault went unchanged as neither Magnussen nor Jolyon Palmer finished in the points.
Lewis Hamilton won the German Grand Prix by 6.996 seconds over Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo. The victory extended Hamilton's lead in the championship standings to 19 points over his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, a gain of 13 points. It was Hamilton's 49th career Formula One victory, his sixth this season and fourth in a row. It was also his second win at the Hockenheimring, with his first coming in 2008 during his second Formula One season.
Nine races remain on the 2016 Formula One schedule, with the next event coming in three weeks with the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps.
Guenther Steiner: "In general, we had a good race, though Esteban had a bad start. We need to look into that, and do better there, because we finished 11th again, one position out of the points. We basically started 18th and 20th and not 11th and 20th. Romain went from 20th to 13th. There wasn't a lot more to do there, and obviously Esteban finished 11th. The car showed the pace and we had no mistakes, but when you start in those positions, sometimes that's the best you can achieve. We know the pace is there. We can do it, we just have to pull it all together and get it done. We've showed that we can do that, which is ultimately a positive for the team moving forward."
As expected there were a number of different strategies in play at the German Grand Prix, with mostly three stops seen and many teams splitting their race strategies.
One of those teams was Mercedes, with race winner Lewis Hamilton alternating the supersoft and soft tyre, whereas polesitter Nico Rosberg started with two sets of supersoft and then ended the race on two sets of soft. Another variation was the case within Red Bull, as podium finishers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen also chose different configurations of race strategy. However, both Red Bull drivers ended the race on the supersoft compound in order to take advantage of its additional speed.
Track temperature remained in the region of 38 degrees throughout the race: similar to the conditions seen yesterday, despite a small threat of rain right at the end. There were also a number of on-track battles further down the order, with teams taking advantage of the different strategies at work all the way to the finish.
The Hockenheim circuit was largely unchanged since last making an appearance on the Formula 1 calendar in 2014, with quite old and bumpy asphalt that proved to be reasonably demanding for the tyres. As a result, a number of drivers adapted their strategies from two to three stops in order to guarantee the pace they needed. The highest-placed two-stopper was Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who finished seventh.
Paul Hembery: "It was a race during which strategy became very important. During the first laps with heavy fuel we experienced higher thermal degradation than expected, and this led many to select the three-stop strategy that we identified yesterday as being theoretically fastest. It was very much a question of monitoring the wear and degradation rates and thinking on their feet, in order to adapt the race strategy to changing circumstances."
Truthometer
We thought that three stops would be the winning strategy, which Hamilton, having benefitted from a good start and fast car - which enabled him to manage the race and his tyres. He made his pit stops on lap 14, 34, and 47, following the pattern that we had predicted.
