There was drama as soon as the lights went out at the start. While Rosberg and Bottas got away well, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who’d made a good start, collided with the Williams of Felipe Massa and the Brazilian’s car was flipped upside down as the pair slid into the gravel trap at turn one. The Williams came to rest right side up and Massa was quickly out of the car. The accident ruled him out of the race however. Magnussen was able to continue, though he had to pit for repairs and the Dane rejoined at the back of the field. The incident disadvantaged Ricciardo who had to take evasive action and he dropped back to 15th. Vettel steered clear of the chaos, however, and rose to third as the safety car was deployed. When the racing resumed Rosberg held his lead from Bottas, with Vettel third ahead of Alonso. Nico Hulkenberg was in fifth, while Jenson Button had risen to sixth from 11th on the grid.
The race was largely about Hamilton’s charge through the pack. By lap 56 he was up to 3rd behind Bottas, who didn`t allowed making any futher progress. Hamilton was, however, down on his front-running team-mate and championship advantage.
Behind them a great battle developed between Alonso and Ricciardo, with duo tussling hard for P6. Despite Ricciardo’s best efforts he couldn’t resist indefinitely and eventually the Ferrari driver muscled past at the hairpin. He ran deep, however, and offered Ricciardo a way back in. The Australian pushed hard to recover the position but Alonso held on. With Vettel now 7.6s ahead and out of reach fourth was the best Alonso could do. It was by a tiny margin, however. Ricciardo battled to the end and when the duo took the flag there were just hundredths of a second separating the pair.
At the front Rosberg took a comfortable fourth win of the season but behind him Hamilton could find no way past the calm and collected Bottas, who took his third podium finish in a row. With Vettel fourth for Red Bull and Alonso and Ricciardo taking P5 and P6 respectively, seventh place was taken by Hulkenberg. Button was eighth, ahead of team-mate Magnussen and the final points position. Rosberg’s win leaves him on 190 points with Hamilton now 14 points back. Ricciardo lies third with 106 points, nine clear of Alonso, who is six ahead of Vettel.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX, HOCKENHEIM.
67 laps, 306.458km., Weather: Sunny.
CLASSIFICATION:
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1h33m42.914
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams + 20.789
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG + 22.530
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull + 44.014
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari + 52.467
6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull + 52.549
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India + 1:04.178
8. Jenson Button McLaren + 1:24.711
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren + 1 lap
10. Sergio Perez Force India + 1 lap
11. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Pastor Maldonado Lotus + 1 lap
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso + 1 lap
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber + 1 lap
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia + 1 lap
16. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham + 2 laps
17. Max Chilton Marussia + 2 laps
18. Marcus Ericsson Caterham + 2 laps
Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton - 1:19.908
NOT CLASSIFIED:
Driver Team On lap
Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 29
Adrian Sutil Sauber 47
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 45
Romain Grosjean Lotus 27
Felipe Massa Williams 1
AFTER 10 RACES:
DRIVERS: CONSTRUCTORS:
1. Nico Rosberg 190 1. Mercedes AMG 366
2. Lewis Hamilton 176 2. Red Bull 188
3. Daniel Ricciardo 106 3. Williams 121
4. Fernando Alonso 97 4. Ferrari 116
5. Valtteri Bottas 91 5. Force India 98
6. Sebastian Vettel 82 6. McLaren 96
7. Nico Hülkenberg 69 7. Toro Rosso 15
8. Jenson Button 59 8. Lotus 8
9. Kevin Magnussen 37 9. Marussia 2
10. Felipe Massa 30
11. Sergio Pérez 29
12. Kimi Räikkönen 19
13. Jean-Éric Vergne 9
14. Romain Grosjean 8
15. Daniil Kvyat 6
16. Jules Bianchi 2
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