Formula One 2014 German GP: Mercedes wins in Germany

The Hockenheimring in Germany has been the test track of Mercedes since the track’s inception. Yet, never has it seen a German marque with a German driver holding aloft the winner’s trophy. The last German to stand on the top step was Michael Schumacher in 2006 on board his Ferrari.

Saturday qualifying saw the usual suspects running at the sharp end of the standings, but before Q1 was over, Lewis Hamilton had a massive shunt into the tire barriers, causing him to miss the remaining sessions and having him start in P15. A brake failure on his Mercedes was to blame here. Lewis incurred an additional 5 place grid penalty for changing his gearbox before the race and had to start in P20. In contrast, Nico Rosberg didn’t put a foot wrong and cruised to his fifth pole position this season. Starting alongside the German was the Williams-Mercedes FW36 of Valtteri Bottas, and in 3rd place was Felipe Massa, also in a Williams. Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel were 4th , 5th , and 6^th, respectively. Fernando Alonso could only muster P7 while rookie Daniil Kvyat took 8^th. Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in their Force India VJM07 rounded up the top 10.

Race Sunday saw cooler weather, and lower track temperatures. Rain was never much of a threat as weather forecasters predicted.

As the lights went out to start the 2014 German GP, Rosberg made a decent start and led the field into turn 1 with Bottas and Massa in tow. An equally fast-starting Magnussen kept his nose glued to the rear of the FW36 of Bottas. Unfortunately, Massa didn’t notice the McLaren driver and turned into the MP4-29. The McLaren slammed into the left front wheel of Massa’s car, causing it to flip over and land broken and out of the race. The race director quickly dispatched the safety car while marshalls extracted the stricken car.

The safety car was brought in a lap later and as racing resumed, Nico maintained his lead. From his form, it did seem that it will be another lights to flag drive for the German. Further back, his teammate Lewis Hamilton was driving like a man possessed crawling up to 16th by the end of lap 3, and even having a bit of a bump from his old mate Sutil on turn 6. But that didn’t deter the Brit as he just kept on going, even banging with Kimi Raikkonen with the Finn losing a portion of  his front wing in the process. By doing so, Hamilton was up to 5th place by lap 15 out of 67.

As the pit stop window came about, the first of the front runners to blink was Fernando Alonso who came in at lap 13 along with Ricciardo, Button and Vergne. A lap later, the rest of the field followed. Race leader Nico Rosberg came in on lap 15. The bravest of the bunch to stop last was Lewis who came in on lap 26. He rejoined the field in 8th, still in a points scoring position and possibly on his way to a podium. Hamilton even had a run-in with his former teammate Jenson Button on lap 30.  The collision was deemed a racing incident and as Lewis passed Jenson, even made a gesture while running at 300 kph, seemingly to apologize for the nudge.

The race progressed with drivers passing left and right, dicing with each other, and trying to outbrake their rivals. While out in front, Nico Rosberg was just going about his business, keeping his foot firmly on the floor. For a while it seemed that all the excitement had past and it was a procession to the flag. But on lap 46, Daniil Kyvat in his Toro Rosso, while in his best race form, found the car on fire, with flames licking the bodywork of the STR9. Daniil quickly got out of the car as marshalls doused the flame with fire-retardant foam. A few laps later, Adrian Sutil spun out by himself on the last corner, and stalled the Sauber in a dangerous location. Marshalls again bravely went across the track as the cars flew by, pushing the Sauber behind the barriers.

By this time Hamilton was up to third place, after disposing of Alonso quite easily. Now he set his eyes on second place man, Valtteri Bottas, who just a few seconds ahead. The Williams pit wall came over the radio informing Valtteri not to race Hamiton, and to just make sure the tires last to the end of the race.

Had Lewis also not struggled with his tires near the end, he would have caught Bottas and maybe even had a chance to fight Nico for the win. But the Pirellis just didn’t last for Lewis and he had to settle for third behind Bottas and eventual winner Rosberg.

Nico Rosberg now leads the standings with 190 points. 14 points behind is Lewis Hamilton, who drove without fear and was acknowledged by most as the driver of the day, as he vaulted from 20th to 3rd place in 67 laps. Daniel Ricciardo maintained his 4th place ahead of Fernando Alonso in the drivers standings.

Mercedes now has a commanding lead in the constructors championship with 366 points. In 2nd  place is Red Bull Racing with 188 points, and surprise contenders Williams Martini Racing holds on to 3rd with 121 points.

It is a forgone conclusion that Mercedes will walk away with both championships. The only question left to be answered is who will be the drivers world champion?