Lewis Hamilton raced off to a sensational victory in a rain-hit German Grand Prix as Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashed out, handing Mercedes a 17-point championship lead.
The Ferrari driver who had achieved a new lap record in qualifying on Saturday, was cruising to victory ahead of Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas, until rain started dripping with 25 laps left to complete.
It caused a chaos in the track as Vettel crashed out, bringing Hamilton – who started the race at 14th after a hydraulic problem in the qualifiers – into the mix.
His Mercedes sliced through the field in the rain and soon Hamilton who had been looking at a fourth-place finish, breezed past the three leading drivers – Vettel, his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and Bottas.
Meanwhile, Vettel who had just been let through by team-mate Kimi Raikkonen – went crashing out. He had beaten Bottas to the first corner and began to open up a nice cushion to collect maximum points and extend his championship lead.
But as the rain got heavier he lost control at the Sachs Kurve hairpin in Hockenheim’s Stadium section, when the SF71H ran into the barriers, as Vettel looked to turn into the track.
The four-time champion swore over the radio as he pulled up the safety car. His chance to win at home in front of tens of thousands of his fans was lost and perhaps the championship too.
Hamilton raced away at the front to take the win, after Raikkonen and Bottas pitted under safety car conditions following Vettel’s accident.
Behind the Mercedes one-two, Raikkonen came third, while Max Verstappen of the Red Bulls was fourth.
A brief drama though still remained towards the end as the Mercedes pair raced against each other, but it was soon stopped by the management who asked Bottas to stop after the initial challenge and hold position.
It was a remarkable result for Hamilton who got to his 66th career victory in a thrilling race.