Following the dramatic events of Formula 1s previous outing at Silverstone where Nico Rosberg retired, leaving the door open for his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to take a home win, it was all
Following the dramatic events of Formula 1s previous outing at Silverstone where Nico Rosberg retired, leaving the door open for his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to take a home win, it was all to play for at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany this weekend.
Rosberg began on pole with Hamilton left shaken following a terrifying brake disc failure that left him in the barriers, prematurely ending his qualifying stint. As a result Hamilton started back in 20th and he had a huge mountain to climb to attempt to work his way back up the field.
Lady Luck Denies Massa
Rosberg got off to a fantastic start, followed closely by the Williams’ of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. On turn one of lap one Massa’s bad luck returned as the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen clipped the Brazilian, leaving him still inside the car as it rolled across the track.
The retirement is Massa’s third of the season so far and the second time in a row that he has been taken out by another car through no fault of his own.
Magnussen was lucky, managing to escape the crash with no damage to his car. On the situation Massa claimed that the accident seemed scarier to watch than it was for him to be a part of, whilst Magnussen had the following to say: ‘I did my best to try and avoid the accident, but there wasn’t much else I could do.’
On-Track Tussling
There was plenty more racing action throughout the duration of the Grand Prix, with little excitement provided at the front as Rosberg continued to steam on ahead, continuously extending his lead. Hamilton worked tirelessly to move himself further up the grid and struggled with front wing issues after a collision with ex-teammate Jenson Button.
Button seemed perplexed following the contact and the Brit was not the first that Hamilton touched on the circuit. There is no doubt that Hamilton is a fantastic driver but there was certainly some aggression coming from him as he stormed around the track to make up ground.
Three more retirements plagued Hockenheim as Lotus’ Romain Grosjean lost power and had to pull off of the track. It was a shame for the Frenchman, Germany his fourth retirement of the 2014 season so far. Toro Rosso had yet more issues as Daniil Kvyat’s car caught on fire.
The young Russian managed to navigate his car to the side of the circuit and left unharmed but clearly angry with what had happened. Adrian Sutil’s Sauber was the final retirement of the race where, after an on-track spin, the German was unable to restart his engine. There was concern over a safety car but it was not deployed.
Meanwhile, in the midfield of the track, there was a strong tussle between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. The pair raced exceptionally but it was the Spaniard who got the edge, finishing the race in a strong fifth and leaving the Australian in sixth.
Ricciardo’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who won at the circuit last year, managed to outperform the 25 year old with a respectable fourth.
German Delight
Unsurprisingly Rosberg went on to win his home race, continuing a week of bliss for the German with Bottas taking second in stunning fashion. Hamilton proved himself a worthy driver as he rounded off the podium in an astounding third place, moving 17 places up the grid.
Rosberg has once again extended his championship lead, now heading Hamilton by 14 points. In the constructor’s standings there was no change up top as Mercedes continue to dominate with 366 points. The only alteration was further down as Williams overtook Ferrari for third position.
In a few days’ time all of the teams will be heading to the Hungaroring in Budapest for the final race before the summer break. Ferrari will be looking to regain their third place in the standings but all eyes will surely be on Hamilton and Rosberg as they look set to once again battle it out for the elusive win.
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