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Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the German Grand Prix from Hockenheim. --- 14:02: Rosberg takes his place back on at pole position and waits for the rest to filter in. Here we go.... --- 14:00: Rosberg leads the pack away for the formation lap. Looks like everyone gets away cleanly. --- 13:59: Off come the tyre blankets... The only man starting on something other than super-softs is Esteban Gutierrez. Interesting call from Haas and offsets him to the rest of the field. --- 13:54: A nice mix of flags along the grandstand. A few British flags, some Finnish flags, a lot of Dutch flags for F1's latest wonderkid. And a lot of Ferrari red - Schumacher's legacy living on in Germany. --- 13:51: Interesting to see Helmut Marko giving Daniil Kvyat some words of encouragement before this race. Kvyat a man in desperate need of a good result going into the summer break. ---
13:49: The anthem is done. The drivers head back to their cars. --- 13:47: A few grey clouds over over the circuit. Small chance of rain in the forecasts. --- 13:44: Just over 15 minutes to go until lights out. The drivers are making their way to the front of the grid for the national anthem. --- 13:41: A decent crowd in the stands but a far cry from the packed grandstands which used to watch this race in Schumacher's heyday. The grandstands overlooking Turn 1 and the run down to Turn 2 have been covered in advertising hoardings like we've seen before at Shanghai. --- 13:38: McLaren failed to live up to its practice pace in qualifying, so the next two rows are split between Force India and Williams. --- 13:36: Behind the Mercedes drivers is a Red Bull second row, who once again out-qualified the Ferrari drivers. Mercedes will be wary of a fast-starting Red Bull, who are confident their race pace can be a match for the world champions. 13:34: Rosberg trails teammate Hamilton by six points after the latter's win in Hungary. He has the chance to go into the summer break leading the championship, which he will do if he wins the race. Mercedes is confident the two won't collide at Turn 1 and will certainly hope they don't in front of a home crowd. --- 13:30: The pit lane is open, meaning drivers can make their way to the grid. |
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Lap 1 |
Terrible start from Rosberg and Hamilton jumps into first into Turn 1! Rosberg drops behind both Red Bull drivers. Rosberg under pressure from the Ferrari of Vettel coming around the hairpin but he stays ahead. Verstappen got the jump on Ricciardo at the start too, the Australian now coming under pressure from Rosberg. |
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Lap 2 |
Remarkable there were no collisions there, a frantic first lap. Vettel has also jumped Raikkonen at the start. Massa complaining about contract, it seems. Alonso has moved up to 11th. Rosberg tries to undercut Ricciardo through the hairpin and they power out of that corner wheel to wheel. Ricciardo holds firm down the inside and forces Rosberg wide at Turn 7! Great driving from both men, but Ricciardo holds the position. |
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Lap 3 |
DRS is enabled. Fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:20.721. Palmer pits for soft tyres. "Solid couple of laps," Red Bull tells Verstappen. Tell him Hamilton is also managing his tyres out in front, so he will do the same. |
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Lap 4 |
Vettel closing down on Rosberg, it seems. Rosberg was just given a message about "remember the plan for the first four laps", which sounded like a reminder to manage his tyres in the opening stage. Replays show Rosberg's initial getaway being OK, it seems to be the second phase of the start where he gets bogged down. Great move around the outside of Ricciardo from Verstappen to move up into second position. |
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Lap 5 |
Rosberg responds to Ferrari's pressure with a personal best lap, but it only gains him a tenth. On boards with Nasr show a brilliant move from the Sauber man at Turn 1, braking early, turning in sharply and gaining about five positions as other drivers run deep into the corner. That explains why he's currently running 17th. |
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Lap 6 |
Replays also show Palmer and Massa touching at the hairpin, explaining the Brazilian's message and why Palmer pitted so early for fresh tyres. Alonso passes Massa down the inside of the hairpin. The two men fight it out on the run down to the next corner but Alonso holds on to tenth position. |
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Lap 7 |
Replays show Haryanto clumsily trying to pass Manor teammate Wehrlein on the inside and losing a big chunk of his front wing. Fastest lap from Rosberg, a 1:20.714. Massa is going backwards and is now having to fend off the attentions of Sainz's Toro Rosso. |
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Lap 8 |
"I'm really struggling big time with the traction, big time," complains Kvyat, in 16th. Hamilton 2.7s up on Verstappen. Rosberg just outside of DRS range of Ricciardo. |
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Lap 9 |
Massa has to defend from Sainz at the hairpin as the young Spaniard tries to out-brake him on the inside. He holds on to 11th but his Williams is looking a bit of a handful. Verstappen reports that he is struggling with his rear tyres. Perez pits for soft tyres. Sainz passes Massa on the inside of the hairpin next time around! Lovely driving from the Spaniard. Massa tells Williams the rear of his car is not the same since earlier contact. Magnussen then swoops in and takes 12th from the Brazilian! Lovely stuff. |
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Lap 10 |
Hamilton sets a fastest lap, a 1:20.518. Massa finally pits for soft tyres. Problem for Sainz on the front right at his own pit stop and that relegates him behind Massa, undoing all his hard work! |
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Lap 11 |
Hamilton has increased the gap to 4.8s over Verstappen. Rosberg holding on to the two Red Bulls in front of him but he's still not in DRS range. "Left rear starting to go," Ricciardo says. |
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Lap 12 |
Rosberg pits at the same time Verstappen does. Super-soft tyres for both. Sluggish stop for Rosberg. Verstappen sweeps past Button on the run down to the hairpin. Rosberg's slow pit stop has seen him come out behind the two McLarens in eighth and ninth. |
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Lap 13 |
Another fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:20.465. Ricciardo pits from second position. Bottas and Hulkenberg also pit. RIcciardo gets out ahead of both McLarens and therefore both McLaren drivers! This race is turning into a bit of a nightmare for Rosberg. Rosberg passes Alonso on the inside of the hairpin to climb to seventh position. Raikkonen now complaining about his rear tyres. |
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Lap 14 |
Hamilton's lead over Verstappen is now nearly 24 seconds. Time for a pit stop as a radio message tells him it's "hammer time". |
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Lap 15 |
Soft tyres for the race leader, pitting him on to an alternate strategy to Rosberg. Not the quickest stop ever but he still emerges in a comfortable lead. Verstappen and Rosberg exchange fastest laps, the Mercedes driver crossing in a 1:20.215. Interesting seeing the top four - Hamilton (soft), Verstappen (super-soft), Ricciardo (soft), Rosberg (super-soft). "So Nico, you are on Plan B," Mercedes tells Rosberg. |
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Lap 16 |
Hamilton being told about his gap to Verstappen, which is currently nearly six seconds. He should be able to go longer on these tyres, too. Replays of Raikkonen's pit stop shows the Finn taking a while to get going. He's still sixth behind Vettel, who beat him into Turn 1. |
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Lap 17 |
Another fastest lap for Rosberg on those super-softs, a 1:20.197. He's 1.7s behind Ricciardo's Red Bull and needs to make advantage of having the softer compound. |
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Lap 18 |
"Did you change the front wing because it feels like you didn't drop it?" Raikkonen asks Ferrari, who confirm yes. Vettel is 14 seconds off the pace, Raikkonen 19. Both men have just done personal best laps. Lovely move from Button on Gutierrez for ninth position, the McLaren driver braking late to pass the Haas man on the inside at the hairpin. Gutierrez still in the points, for now... |
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Lap 19 |
Hamilton's lead increases again, this time to 6.793s. Magnussen brakes very late to pass Massa at the hairpin. He has to get the car slowed down very quickly to turn out of the hairpin but he manages it. He's having a nice punchy drive out there. |
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Lap 20 |
"Yes, don't worry. I will lose a position at the next stop and then I will recover," says Alonso, after being congratulated for getting past another car. Replays show Magnussen locking up heavily as he made that move stick. We also see Alonso passing Perez on the inside of the hairpin. |
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Lap 21 |
Massa is really struggling and locks up at Turn 5. He's got Sainz and Grosjean right behind him. The Williams driver has looked all out of shape since contact with Palmer at Turn 1, so there must be some damage to his car. "This is definitely not the race tyre," Verstappen tells Red Bull. He, like Rosberg, is on the super-soft tyre. Both men have the soft tyre. Hamilton currently matching both of them on the soft tyre. |
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Lap 22 |
It's all going wrong for Massa, who gets passed by Sainz at the hairpin and then gobbled up by Grosjean as they drive out of it. Torrid race for the Brazilian driver. "The gaps are all pretty static at the moment," Red Bull tells Ricciardo. Lots of drivers happy to manage their tyres. Alonso tries to pass Gutierrez around the outside of the hairpin but the Haas driver holds firm on the inside. |
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Lap 23 |
Alonso out-brakes Gutierrez as they enter the stadium section and gets the move done! Great driving from the two-time world champion. |
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Lap 24 |
Rosberg has shaved half a second off the gap to Ricciardo in the last few laps but his pace isn't spectacular on those super-soft tyres, which he's had on for a fair while now. He pitted on lap 12. |
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Lap 25 |
Mercedes needs to do something with Rosberg here if it wants to get him past one or both of these Red Bulls. Ricciardo looking very well placed on the soft tyre, Verstappen is already complaining about his super-soft. Ricciardo being told the super-soft runners are struggling. Only Verstappen and Rosberg on that tyre among the top ten. Last lap comparison: Hamilton 1:21.024 Verstappen 1:21.067 Ricciardo 1:21.149 Rosberg 1:21.112 |
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Lap 26 |
Hamilton out in front is lapping quicker than anyone. He's in complete control at the moment. |
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Lap 27 |
Hamilton's lead about 7.5s. Another bonus for him is that the length of this lead means he can turn down that engine a bit. Massa pits. Another pit stop for Palmer, who gets a new front wing. He emerges at the back of the field. |
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Lap 28 |
Rosberg pits from fourth position and its much tidier from Mercedes this time around. On this occasion Rosberg emerges into a clear bit of race track. Some important laps for the German driver ahead. Vettel complaining about blue flags again. "Ridiculous, that was more than a lap!" |
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Lap 29 |
Verstappen pits to try and cover off Rosberg. It's very right and he emerges just in front of the Mercedes driver! Important timing from the Red Bull driver. "Pushing hard now, push hard now," Tony Ross tells Rosberg. Rosberg brakes deep into the hairpin and the Dutchman has to bail out of the corner. Rosberg excellently holds firm and that's a crucial move for the German driver! Great stuff. Replays show Verstappen twitching as Rosberg came past him but then bailing out. "He pushed me off the track," complains Verstappen. I don't think he's got much of an argument. |
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Lap 30 |
That was Austria-esque with the guy on the outside ending up off the road, but this time with Rosberg being the one making the position. |
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Lap 31 |
Rosberg under investigation for that move... |
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Lap 32 |
Vettel pits from fifth position. The Ferrari driver emerges behind Bottas in sixth. Rosberg finally able to up the pace of his Mercedes. "Things are really kicking off now, so as much pace as possible," Mercedes tells Hamilton. Ricciardo has no option but to execute a two-stopper in second position. Vettel passes Bottas brilliantly at Turn 5, slipping down the inside of the Williams driver. Some great passing moves in this race! |
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Lap 33 |
Raikkonen pits. He emerges behind Vettel and Bottas. |
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Lap 34 |
Grosjean and Perez getting fiesty into the hairpin. Super-softs for Ricciardo... wasn't expecting that call. Five-second time penalty for Rosberg for forcing Verstappen wide. |
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Lap 35 |
Hamilton pits and he also takes super-soft tyres. He emerges comfortably in the lead. All that has elevated Rosberg to P2. Fastest lap from Raikkonen, a 1:20.066. "Can you explain to them I was full lock on the wheel? He moved under braking, that was the problem, that's not allowed," Rosberg complains when told about his time penalty. He's got a good point, there was a definite twitch from Verstappen as they reached the braking zone. |
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Lap 36 |
Rosberg sets a fastest lap, a 1:19.684. Not sure if the on-board replays support his opinion about being on full lock, however... |
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Lap 37 |
Gutierrez sweeps past Grosjean, who doesn't put up much of a fight for his teammate. "Doing a really good job, Nico. Just need to pull that gap [to Verstappen] and it's yours," Mercedes tells Rosberg. Struggling to understand the Red Bull call for Ricciardo, his pit stops have dropped him behind Verstappen and he's catching him very fast. I would have thought soft tyres made more sense. |
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Lap 38 |
Fastest lap for race leader Hamilton, a 1:19.452. Massa's torrid afternoon ends as he pits to retire. He was hit by one of the Renault drivers at the hairpin on lap one and his car just hasn't looked right since then. Siddhesh says: "FIA loves to be inconsistent in their decisions. Rosberg did nothing wrong there, purely racing and it was a bloody good move that deserved a reward, not a penalty. Horrible decision making." |
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Lap 39 |
Ricciardo is now within DRS range of Verstappen. Red Bull might tell him to make it easy for the Australian otherwise they could compromise each other's races. |
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Lap 40 |
"There's some smoke coming from the rear of the car," Grosjean tells Haas. Ricciardo opens up DRS and he sweeps past Verstappen on the run down to the hairpin. Doesn't look like Verstappen put up a much of a fight. |
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Lap 41 |
That quick move from Red Bull was important because both drivers are racing Rosberg, who also has a five-second penalty to serve. Ricciardo sets a fastest lap, a 1:19.105 - good teamwork paying dividends for the Red Bull pair. "Ricciardo is pushing hard so we need mid-19 lap times NIco, really important," Mercedes tells Rosberg. His last lap a 1:20.140, a second slower than Ricciardo. |
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Lap 42 |
Rosberg's next lap is a 1:20.362, so he's not finding the lap times Mercedes said he needed. It's going to be an incredibly fiesty finish to this one. Verstappen now complaining he's struggling with the softs. |
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Lap 43 |
Rosberg's dropped to a 1:21.099 and now the gap is 1.2s to Ricciardo! That's come down a lot in the last few laps. "OK Daniel, Rosberg struggling a bit. It's going to be good," Simon Rennie tells Ricciardo. |
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Lap 44 |
Rosberg loses another six tenths on this next lap, moving Ricciardo into DRS. Ricciardo looks on the inside and then opts against a ballsy move. Ferrari calls Vettel in for a pit and he says "negative, I'm going to for a few more laps". He's told the team similar before, Baku as I recall. Rosberg really struggling for traction in the final sector and peels off into the pit lane. |
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Lap 45 |
Rosberg sits in the pit box for five seconds and then the team snaps into action, fitting soft tyres to his car. "It's the only way we can undercut someone," Ferrari tells Vettel, so they still want him to pit this lap. Ferrari hoping to undercut Verstappen. Interesting to see how the dynamic between Vettel and Ferrari is developing this season. |
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Lap 46 |
Rosberg has re-joined in sixth. Vettel stays out as Verstappen pits. Verstappen emerges ahead of Rosberg. Replays show Alonso locking up and running wide. |
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Lap 47 |
This race has been a nightmare for Rosberg so far. Ricciardo pits, as does Vettel. He emerges in sixth, behind Verstappen and Rosberg. We've got a real fight on our hands for the final podium positions! |
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Lap 48 |
Hamilton pits from the lead, it's a tidy stop from Mercedes and he emerges way in front. Simple drive to the flag for the world champion now. Verstappen now sets a fastest lap, a 1;18.910, so he's catching Ricciardo in second! This is all going to get very tasty. Red Bull gives the hurry-up to Ricciardo. |
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Lap 49 |
Ricciardo responds with a new fastest lap, a 1:18.442. He's pushed Verstappen out of DRS range. Rosberg just doesn't seem to have the pace to match these two. His last lap a 1:19.420. Hamilton's lead about 8.5s. |
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Lap 50 |
Hamilton managing his lead out there on the soft tyres but Ricciardo is chipping away at his lead. Ricciardo has the super-softs on, however, so he's going to have to start managing that set much earlier than Hamilton. Interesting for Hamilton if the lead keeps coming down, however, as he won't want to push that engine too much given how long its been in his car. |
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Lap 51 |
Ricciardo has cut the gap to 6.9s. He's absolutely flying and crucially has pulled a two-second gap to Verstappen. Hamilton enquires about Rosberg's pace and is told "1:19.3",which is a second quicker than his last effort. Lots of traffic for Hamilton to negotiate out there. |
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Lap 52 |
Hamilton responds with a 1:19.471, so clearly he has something in hand, but that's still six tenths slower than Ricciardo's last effort. Gutierrez goes wide around the outside of hairpin on Magnussen and the Mexican driver has to go deep, undercutting the Renault driver and getting the power down in time to claim 13th. Nice move - he came very close to swiping his front wing off on the back of the Renault there. |
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Lap 53 |
Hamilton responds with a personal best, a 1:18.746. as Ricciardo crosses in a 1:19.575. So are those super-soft tyres starting to lose a bit of performance? Ricciardo has done a great job to drive back to second. |
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Lap 54 |
Hamilton's lead at the front is back up to 7.8s. Rosberg is six seconds behind Verstappen. Vettel is five seconds behind Rosberg. The battle for the podium I predicted hasn't quite materialised as the compounds even themselves out as they did in the middle stint. Hamilton the quickest man on the circuit once again. |
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Lap 55 |
"Esteban's my favourite, I love this guy," Ricciardo says as he passes Gutierrez. The Haas driver held Hamilton up in Hungary,remember. Clearly a bit of sarcasm from the Australian about blue flags. Nice move from Grosjean on Magnussen down the outside of Turn 8. |
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Lap 56 |
Ricciardo cutting the gap to Hamilton once again, taking a full second off him last time. But the three lapped cars between the two is a good explanation, the race leader navigating through quite a bit of traffic. |
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Lap 57 |
Wehrlein passes Ericsson at the hairpin for 17th. He's really separating himself from Haryanto in these last few races... which a lot of people expected he would do. Button complaining of an issue, which McLaren tells him is being repeated in the car. "This is a problem guys. Could destroy our races." Perez is looming not too far down the race track in 11th. |
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Lap 58 |
Hamilton gains half a second back on Ricciardo to increase the lead to 6.9s. A nicely-managed race from the world champion. Absolutely massive to have got the lead at the start of the grand prix. |
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Lap 59 |
Alonso told there might be some drops of rain in five minutes. It's looking a bit dark overhead. Verstappen now cutting a few tenths here and there to Ricciardo, he's just over two seconds behind his teammate. |
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Lap 60 |
Rosberg navigating through some traffic, and Gutierrez jumps out of his way at the hairpin. Kvyat passes Magnussen down the inside at the hairpin. |
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Lap 61 |
Hulkenberg starting to reel in Bottas in the battle for seventh. Nasr has pulled his car to the side of the road and is climbing out. Both Brazilians are out of the race. It's raining! |
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Lap 62 |
It's not very heavy rain yet but is there going to be another twist? Hulkenberg all over the back of Bottas and he gets much better drive out of Turn 8 to move himself into seventh position. "Few drops of rain on the visor," Hamilton tells Mercedes. |
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Lap 63 |
Hamilton's pace out in front is three tenths quicker than Ricciardo, who may have turned his attention to the other Red Bull behind. Perez really close behind Alonso now in the battle for tenth. The two men have to compromise their laps to let Verstappen's Red Bull through as well. |
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Lap 64 |
Perez closes right up to Alonso but not quite close enough to attempt a move, though he definitely thought about a lunge down the inside. |
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Lap 65 |
Three laps remaining. Perez has lost a lot of ground having to ovey blue flags. Alonso and Perez go wheel to wheel on the run down Turn 8, the Mexican relegating Alonso out of the points with some great driving. |
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Lap 66 |
Hamilton starts the penultimate lap of the race. Alonso massively lifts to let Rosberg through and Perez has absolutely scampered free since getting past. "Bottas on 32-lap primes, Jenson," McLaren tells Button. He's right behind the Williams driver. Button makes it look very easy through Turn 8. Safe to say Williams' two-stopper is unraveling slightly out there. Bottas might not even claim a point with Perez bearing down on him,four seconds quicker... |
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Lap 67 |
Hamilton starts the last lap. He's been in ominous form ever since taking that win in Monaco and he's about to take a 19-point lead into the summer break. Hamilton wins the German Grand Prix. Commanding win from the reigning world champion and Rosberg has a big, big job to do if he wants to regroup after the summer break. Ricciardo and Verstappen claim the next two spots on the podium. Rosberg fourth. Vettel finished fifth - interesting to see what Ferrari says about him ignoring that call to pit earlier when they felt he could have undercut Verstappen... |
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"Hello ladies!" Hamilton says in the waiting room after getting congratulated by the Red Bull drivers, his attention on the grid girls lining his walk to the podium. He'll be very pleased not to be sharing the podium with Rosberg. It means he suddenly goes into the summer break with a rather commanding lead -- he was trailling by 43 points after the Spanish Grand Prix. A remarkable turnaround. |
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