From correspondents in Hockenheim, Germany
July 20, 2008

BRITISH driver Lewis Hamilton opened a clear lead in this year's drivers' championship by winning the German Grand Prix in thrilling style.

The 23-year-old Englishman, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, dominated the early stages and then, after being upset by two safety car interventions and some cautious team strategy, proved he could overtake anyone with a dazzling display of passing moves in the final laps.

To make up for time lost in the pits when he made an out-of-synch late stop, he showed his true speed by overtaking both Felipe Massa in a Ferrari and then Nelson Piquet in a Renault to regain the lead.

“I would have much preferred to have come in earlier (for my second pit stop) but the way it worked out I knew I had a lot of work to do. They let me stay out and I just had to push hard, as hard as I could,” said the Briton.

“I really pushed, right over the limit, but it was not enough and then I had to fight my way back. So a big thank-you to my McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who saw I was faster and did not make life more difficult.

“I had two great fights with the other guys, it was very fair and it was exciting.”

Hamilton took the chequered flag 5.5 seconds ahead of Piquet who claimed the first podium of his career while Massa was third.

Piquet, whose father won three world titles, admitted that even when he briefly led the race in the closing stages it would have been a huge job to stay in front.

“When I was leading, I knew Lewis would come by quickly and I knew Felipe wasn't that much quicker than me. If I'd taken too many risks (trying to hold Hamilton off), Felipe might have overtaken me,” said the rookie.

“So I decided I had to save second place rather than end up in third or fourth and not be so happy.”

Meanwhile, Massa bemoaned the pace of the Ferrari.

“I just did not have the pace. I looked at the speed of my car and I was on the hard tyres because the soft was so difficult to drive, and I just couldn't have the pace,” said the Brazilian.

Hamilton now leads the standings with 58 points from Massa, on 54, whose Ferrari team-mate, defending drivers world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen, is seven points adrift after finishing a disappointing sixth.

“It's not exactly what we were hoping for,” said Raikkonen.

“It was pretty difficult all the way through. Then in the end the car was a bit better but it was very difficult for the whole weekend. We need to look and find an improvement.

“I don't know whether it the set-up or what, but we had difficult handling all weekend and it was harder in the race in the beginning.”

Hamilton had dominated the first half of the race after powering away from the ninth pole position of his career.

The Geneva-based driver had built-up a lead of around 12 seconds by lap 36 when German Timo Glock crashed out in his Toyota. Glock lost control of his car at the last corner when the right rear tyre suddenly deflated sending him spearing into the wall.

The German, 26, slid backwards down the home straight before his wrecked car finally came to a stop.

Glock was clearly dazed after he got out of the Toyota and was later taken to the medical centre and then a local hospital for a check-up, although his condition was described as 'fine'.

Hamilton was kept out on the track as all his main rivals made their final pit-stops under the safety car.

The Mercedes-powered driver dropped to fifth when he was forced to make his final pit-stop, but soon passed Kovalainen for third spot.

Hamilton then hunted down Massa overtaking his rival on lap 57 as he forced him wide at the chicane to take second with Nick Heidfeld having pitted for BMW.

Massa attempted to fight back a couple of corners later, but was again forced into the dirt.

Hamilton made the same move on Piquet at the hairpin turn three laps later to regain a deserved lead before cruising to victory in the closing seven laps.

German Nick Heidfeld finished fourth for BMW Sauber ahead of Kovalainen, Raikkonen, Pole Robert Kubica in the second BMW and German Sebastian Vettlel for Toro Rosso.

F1GP - German Grand Prix
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired
1 22 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:31:20.874
2 6 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +5.5 secs
3 2 Felipe Massa Ferrari +9.3 secs
4 3 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +9.8 secs
5 23 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren +12.4 secs
6 1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +14.4 secs
7 4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +22.6 secs
8 15 Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso +33.2 secs
9 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +37.1 secs
10 7 Nico Rosberg Williams +37.6 secs
11 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +38.6 secs
12 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso +39.1 secs
13 9 David Coulthard Red Bull +54.9 secs
14 8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +60 secs
15 20 Adrian Sutil Force India +69.4 secs
16 21 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +84 secs
17 16 Jenson Button Honda +1 Lap
18 10 Mark Webber Red Bull Retired
19 12 Timo Glock Toyota Retired
20 17 Rubens Barrichello Honda Retired


F1 Drivers Ladder
Driver Team Pts
1 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 58
2 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 54
3 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 51
4 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 48
5 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 41
6 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 28
7 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 20
8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 18
9 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 13
10 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Honda 11
11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 10
12 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 8
13 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 8
14 David Coulthard (GBR) Red Bull 6
15 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Toro Rosso 6
16 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 5
17 Jenson Button (GBR) Honda 3
18 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2
19 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0
19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0
19 Anthony Davidson (GBR) Super Aguri 0
20 Takuma Sato (JAP) Super Aguri 0


F1 Team Ladder
Team Pts
1 Ferrari 105
2 BMW Sauber 89
3 McLaren 86
4 Toyota 25
5 Red Bull 24
6 Renault 23
7 Williams 16
8 Honda 14
9 Toro Rosso 8
10 Force India 0
11 Super Aguri 0