2008 German GP: Hamilton wins despite Safety Car gamble

Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 German GP at the Hockenheimring from pole position for McLaren. He did not make it easy for himself. After a risky strategy under the Safety Car, he had to fight his way back to the front on track in the closing laps. A surprise second was Nelson Piquet Jr. in the Renault, who had started from 17th on the grid. Felipe Massa completed the podium in the Ferrari.

Hamilton kept the lead at the start, with Massa and Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren following in their grid positions. Hamilton then pulled away lap after lap. According to grandprix.com, he already led Massa by 10.4 seconds on lap 16.

There was more going on behind. Robert Kubica passed Kimi Räikkönen at the start in the BMW Sauber, then also overtook Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli in the Toyota at the hairpin. That put him fourth for a time. Alonso got stuck behind Trulli early on, and Räikkönen took advantage to get past the Renault.

In the first round of pit stops, Hamilton was the first of the leading group to come in, on lap 18. Shortly afterwards Massa led the race from lap 19 and Kovalainen from lap 21. Hamilton was back in front from lap 22. At half distance, according to Wikipedia, he had a lead of around eleven seconds over Massa.

On lap 36, the right rear suspension on Timo Glock's Toyota broke as he came out of the final corner. The car spun and hit the pit wall backwards, scattering debris across the track. A dazed Glock climbed out and was taken to the medical centre. The sources agree that he was not seriously injured. The official reason for his retirement is “Suspension”.

The Safety Car came out, and as soon as the pit lane opened, almost all the front-runners made their second stop. McLaren, however, kept Hamilton out. The team assumed the Safety Car period would be short and that Hamilton would then have enough time to build a cushion for his final stop. But the clean-up took longer. According to Wikipedia, the Safety Car did not come in until lap 42. That left Hamilton without the time he needed to build the necessary gap.

The big beneficiary was Piquet. He was on a one-stop strategy and had pitted shortly before the Safety Car period, so he already had enough fuel to reach the finish. When the others refuelled, he moved well up the order.

Hamilton made his final stop on lap 50 and rejoined in fifth. Nick Heidfeld now took the lead, to the delight of the crowd at his home race. Heidfeld still had to refuel himself, though, and pitted after lap 53. That handed Piquet the lead from lap 54.

On fresh tyres and a light fuel load, Hamilton was clearly quicker than his rivals. Team-mate Kovalainen let him through at the hairpin. On lap 57 Hamilton passed Massa at the same spot. According to Wikipedia, Piquet defended more stubbornly than Massa, but on lap 60 Hamilton made a move stick up the inside at the hairpin and took the lead back for good. According to Wikipedia, he crossed the line around 5.5 seconds ahead of Piquet.

The fight for third place got tight once more. After his late stop, Heidfeld piled the pressure on Massa but could not find a way past. He did at least set the fastest lap of the race, according to Wikipedia a 1:15.987 on lap 52.

There were only three retirements:

• Timo Glock (Toyota): suspension failure, crash on lap 36 (see above).
• Mark Webber (Red Bull): He retired after 40 laps with an engine failure. According to Wikipedia, his car had picked up an oil leak from debris from Glock's crash, and crash.net reports that his engine was smoking as he left the pits.
• Rubens Barrichello (Honda): He was battling David Coulthard for 13th place when the two collided. According to crash.net, Coulthard forced him off the track. Both had to pit for repairs, and Barrichello retired after 50 laps.

One penalty is also on record. According to Wikipedia, Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) was handed a 25-second penalty for unlapping himself under the Safety Car. That dropped him to 16th place.

In the end, according to Wikipedia, 16 drivers finished on the lead lap. That was a record at the time.

The winner of the day was clearly Piquet. Starting from 17th on the grid, he gained 15 places and, according to grandprix.com, stood on the podium for the first time. The Safety Car played into his hands, but he made the most of it. According to Wikipedia, Piquet and Massa also made it the first time since the 1991 Belgian GP that two Brazilians had shared the podium.

Heidfeld went from 12th on the grid to fourth, gaining eight places. On top of that came the fastest lap and a few laps in the lead at his home race. Sebastian Vettel scored a point in eighth in the Toro Rosso. Nico Rosberg gained three places in the Williams but came away empty-handed in tenth.

The losers were Alonso and Trulli. Alonso dropped from fifth on the grid to eleventh, partly because of a late spin in which, according to grandprix.com, he lost a place to Rosberg. Trulli started fourth and could only finish ninth. Räikkönen finished sixth, exactly where he had started. He only passed Trulli, Vettel and Kubica late on and still remained anonymous.

According to crash.net, Hamilton claimed his fourth win of the season, and after the British GP it was his second in a row. That broke the tie at the top. Before the race, Hamilton, Massa and Räikkönen had been level on points; afterwards Hamilton led with 58 points ahead of Massa (54) and Räikkönen (51). Kubica followed on 48 points, Heidfeld on 41.

In the constructors' championship, Ferrari remained ahead with 105 points, followed by BMW Sauber on 89 and McLaren on 86. With ten of 18 races run, the title fight remained open. You'll find the full picture in the 2008 standings.