German GP 2014: Rosberg wins at home, Hamilton from 20th to 3rd

Nico Rosberg won the 2014 German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring from pole position. He led all 67 laps. In his Mercedes, nobody threatened him at his home race. Valtteri Bottas finished second for Williams, with Lewis Hamilton third. Hamilton provided the story of the day: after a crash in qualifying he started only 20th and gained 17 places in the race.

According to Motor Sport Magazine, Rosberg had an eventful week behind him. He had extended his contract with Mercedes and got married, and Germany had also won the football World Cup. Sunday then brought the home win.

Saturday had already turned the weekend upside down. In Q1 the right-front brake disc failed on Hamilton's Mercedes and he hit the tyre barrier. Mercedes confirmed the failure as the cause. Because the gearbox also had to be changed, he picked up a five-place grid penalty on top. Rosberg took pole, with Bottas alongside him on the front row. Behind them were Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen in the McLaren.

Rosberg got away cleanly. Behind him there was a crash at the first corner: Massa backed out from his team-mate Bottas and turned in towards the apex. In doing so he apparently failed to see Magnussen alongside him on the inside. Their wheels interlocked, and the Williams flipped over before landing back on its wheels. Massa was unhurt but retired without completing a lap. According to formula1.com it was already his third first-lap retirement of the season. Massa blamed Magnussen, while the Dane felt he had no chance to avoid it. The debris brought out the Safety Car.

Magnussen pitted for a new nose after the first lap and dropped to the back of the field. Even so, he still finished ninth in the points. Daniel Ricciardo had to take avoiding action and fell back to 14th.

Hamilton was one of the few drivers to start on the harder soft tyres and worked his way quickly through the field. According to Wikipedia he was 13th after four laps. Around lap 13 he passed Kimi Räikkönen and Ricciardo in a single move at the hairpin. He locked a wheel in the process and made light contact with the Ferrari. When the leaders made their first stops, Hamilton was briefly up to second until Bottas passed him again.

Around lap 30 a mistake cost him a lot of time. He dived down the inside of Jenson Button at the hairpin, but the Briton swung wide for a better exit and cut back to the inside. Hamilton's front wing hit the McLaren's sidepod and part of the endplate broke off. Hamilton took the blame: “I thought he was going to let me by.” The damaged wing put more strain on the tyres, so Mercedes switched from two stops to three. He pitted on laps 26, 42 and 50.

On fresh supersoft tyres, Hamilton passed Fernando Alonso on lap 56, according to Wikipedia, and set the fastest lap of the race. He then closed in steadily on Bottas. But according to Motor Sport Magazine, the Finn defended calmly and without error: he braked late into the hairpin and got a good exit out of the third corner. By the end, Hamilton's tyres were too worn for a final attack. He finished third, which according to formula1.com was only his second podium from a start outside the top ten.

Pirelli brought the soft and supersoft compounds to Hockenheim. According to Pirelli, the softer compound was around one second per lap faster. The track was more than 20 degrees cooler on Sunday than on the previous days, and the expected rain never arrived. Rosberg made two stops, on laps 15 and 41, and rejoined in the lead both times. Bottas also stuck to two stops and ran the final laps to the flag on soft tyres.

In the closing stages Adrian Sutil sparked debate. Shortly after his final stop, his Sauber spun at the final corner and came to a halt on track. The teams expected a Safety Car, so Mercedes brought Hamilton in for his third stop earlier than planned. However, the marshals recovered the car under yellow flags and the Safety Car never came. As a result, Hamilton's last set of supersofts had to last considerably longer than planned. According to Wikipedia, Hamilton, Rosberg and Alonso were surprised that there was no Safety Car. Hamilton was mainly concerned for the marshals.

Ferrari also changed strategy during the race. Alonso switched from two stops to three and made his final pit stop on lap 55. He then hunted down Ricciardo on fresh supersofts. At the flag Alonso was fifth, just 0.082 seconds ahead of the Australian. Sebastian Vettel finished fourth ahead of them. According to formula1.com, that was the first time this season he had finished ahead of his Red Bull team-mate when both reached the finish.

Four drivers failed to finish:

• Felipe Massa (Williams): collision with Magnussen at the first corner, did not complete a lap.
• Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1): water leak, out after 26 laps.
• Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso): spun early on after contact with Sergio Pérez. His race ended after 44 laps, officially due to an oil leak. According to grandprix.com, his car caught fire after unburnt fuel ignited in the exhaust.
• Adrian Sutil (Sauber): spin at the final corner, out after 47 laps. A brake failure was officially recorded as the cause.

The big winner of the day was Hamilton, who gained 17 places. Bottas also impressed: he finished on the podium for the third race in a row and, according to Pirelli and formula1.com, secured the 300th podium in Williams' history. With six places gained, Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus was the second-biggest climber, but finished twelfth and out of the points. Nico Hülkenberg finished seventh for Force India, which meant he had scored in every race of the season. Button was eighth, and Pérez took the final point in tenth.

Räikkönen was unlucky: according to grandprix.com he was squeezed between other cars twice and damaged his front wing. He finished eleventh, missing the points by one place. The biggest loser was Massa, who lost 19 places. Kvyat retired from eighth on the grid and dropped twelve positions.

In the 2014 standings, Rosberg extended his lead. He now had 190 points to Hamilton's 176. According to Wikipedia, the gap thus grew from four to 14 points. Ricciardo remained third on 106 points, ahead of Alonso on 97 and Bottas on 91. Among the teams, Mercedes were well clear on 366 points, with Red Bull on 188. Williams moved past Ferrari with 121 points to 116 and, according to formula1.com, were as high up as they had last been in 2008.

It was a historic day for German motorsport. According to Eurosport, it was the first home win by a German in a German works car since Rudolf Caracciola won at the Nürburgring with Mercedes-Benz in 1939. Formula1.com also noted that Rosberg was the first German winner at Hockenheim since Michael Schumacher in 2006. For Rosberg himself, it was his first podium at the German Grand Prix and his fourth win of the season. By now he had also led more laps than his father Keke.

The 2014 calendar still had nine races to go. Hockenheim showed how the title race between the two Mercedes drivers was playing out: Rosberg won with flawless races, while Hamilton fought back with sheer pace, even after setbacks. You can find all the results in the 2014 results overview.