14:03 The cars return to the grid. We're ready to go.

14:00 Off they go on their formation lap. Button and Hulkenberg are on mediums as expected.

13:59 The tyre blankets come off, it looks like Hamilton's brake has been sorted.

13:57 Ricciardo is in the mix too, starting from sixth. He's really upped his game over the last two races with the Webber drive coming open.

13:55 It's very hot out there with air temp at 24C and track temp at 42C. That should help the soft tyres early on, but those will only be good for less than ten laps.

13:53 Force India's Bob Fernley says this race is a bit of an unknown for the pit wall as it's the first one with these rear tyres.

13:51 Nishit says: "Now this may be a tad bold for prediction but I think today Kimi Raikkonen's brilliant race finishing record will come to an end considering his luck at Nurgburgring. His last retirement was from German GP in 2009 which was held in Nurburgring. Quite impressive run I must add."

13:49 Webber is taking some time out in the Williams garage ahead of the race. Odd place for him to sit ahead 10 minutes before the start.

13:48 More issues on Hamilton's car. The front right brake appears to have locked and is smoking. The mechanics are spraying some releasing agent on it but this is not a good.

13:45 Nico Rosberg starts from 11th today after a team error in Q2 when they failed to send him out on time. He will no doubt start on mediums and will fancy his chances of making quick progress when the cars in front pit.

13:43 The Ferraris have only just arrived in their grid slots. The pit lane will close in about two minutes so we should have all the cars on the grid pretty soon.

13:39 It's worth keeping an eye on Raikkonen in fourth. Everybody thinks the tyres are going to go off after six or seven laps but the Lotus is a little easier on its rubber. The Ferraris are also worth following as they will start on mediums from seventh and eighth and they will take the lead when the leaders pit if everything goes to plan.

13:35 The cars are arriving on the grid at the moment. Webber did three practice starts before arriving on the grid. It's fair to say starts are his weak point at the moment so he needs all the practice he can get.

13:31 Hamilton had a bit of a scare this morning with a small fuel leak on his car so the team changed a seal on the fuel pump and all should be fine for the race. Meanwhile, Charles Pic will start from the back of the grid after a gearbox change.

13:30 Welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the German Grand Prix. We're looking forward to an exciting race this afternoon with Lewis Hamilton on pole position ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen.

Lap 1

Vettel takes the lead from Webber at the start. Hamilton is having to fend off Raikkonen as Massa gets ahead of Ricciardo.

Perfect start for the Red Bulls, Webber tried to get around the outside of Vettel in turn one but was hung out to dry. He did well to hold onto second in the end.

Lap 2

Button and Perez fight over ninth place and the younger McLaren driver passes. He's on soft tyres so has more grip and is on a different strategy. Feisty stuff nonetheless.

Lap 3

Webber is 0.9s behind Vettel so just in the DRS range when it is activated later on this lap. Hamilton is another 0.9s back but has Raikkonen in his mirrors.

Lap 4

Raikkonen uses his DRS on this lap but can't close the gap.

Massa has spun at turn one and it looks like he has stalled. That's a tricky corner but it was a very odd spin. He spun off to the left under braking, which is not what you'd expect.

Lap 5

Vettel now has a 1.1s lead over Webber as they cross the line this time. Vergne and di Resta pit. Unsafe release by Force India as he comes out right into the path of Vergne. That is very likely to be a penalty as Vergne had to take evasive action.

Lap 6

Webber is not letting Vettel run away with this as he gets back within a second and DRS range. Hamilton seems to be dropping off a bit and is 1.5s behind Webber now. Raikkonen is still on his tail.

Grosjean says he is much quicker than Raikkonen on the radio, but Raikkonen is being held up by Hamilton at this stage.

Lap 7

The di Resta pit stop will be investigated after the race. Odd decision not to do it now.

Hamilton pits for medium tyres and he has some clear air. He needs to pump some quick laps in now to challenge the Red Bull. He's told to push by his team but runs wide at turn eight. Not what he needed to do.

Lap 8

Vettel pits now and Webber takes the lead. Red Bull reacting immediately to Mercedes and Vettel comes out just ahead of Rosberg who has yet to pit. Sloppy lap from Hamilton sees him lose more time to Vettel in the stops.

It was crucial to get Vettel out ahead of Rosberg as he could have held up the Red Bull on his older mediums.

Lap 9

Webber pits and leaves the pits with a wheel unattached. The wheel comes off in the pit lane and hits a camera man. Horrible scenes in the pit lane. I hope he is okay. Webber is being wheeled back to the garage.

Doctors were immediately on the scene and reports suggest he is okay, but that would of hurt a lot.

Lap 10

Raikkonen pits and comes out wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton. The Mercedes had warmer tyres and was able to hold him off.

Webber rejoins with a wheel attached.

Grosjean now leads and is very fast on his old softs. He said he was faster than Raikkonen and is now showing it.

Lap 11

Vettel is making light work of Hulkenberg and Button as he moves up to third.

Lap 12

Raikkonen is right on the back of Hamilton who is being held up by Rosberg. Hamilton not happy: "Nico is not in the same race".

Rosberg is told not to hold Hamilton up, but he still hasn't moved over.

Lap 13

Alonso pits. He takes on mediums again, but that's a little earlier than we expected.

Rosberg is still holding up Hamilton, which is costing the Brit dear. It's also not good for Raikkonen who is also being held up. Hamilton is now seven seconds behind Vettel, who is putting himself in a very good position here.

Lap 14

Grosjean pits and comes out ahead of Hulkenberg, Rosberg and Hamilton. That's a genuine gain of position for Grosjean over Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Hamilton finally gets past Rosberg but the damage is done. Raikkonen is now on the back of Rosberg and looks like he will pass soon.

Raikkonen passes Rosberg into the chicane. He nearly overcooked it but made the move stick.

Lap 15

Grosjean passes Button for second place, but Button is still out on his old mediums.

Grosjean is flying at the moment and just 4,3s behind. He's flying.

Lap 16

Grosjean closes the gap to 3.4s with a new fastest lap. In these conditions, Grosjean is looking incredibly quick. Raikkonen will be so frustrated he's not doing better as he closes on the back of Hamilton again.

Lap 17

Rosberg pits. His pace had really dropped off towards the end of that stint.

Raikkonen is back on the gearbox of Hamilton. Both are closing on Hulkenberg, who hasn't pitted yet.

Lap 18

Grosjean is still reeling in Vettel. 2.8s is the gap now.

Hulkenberg pits for the first time. He has a slightly slow pit stop and has now freed up Hamilton and Raikkonen. The Lotus looks a lot quicker than the Mercedes but still can't find a way past.

Hamilton "I've no grip, man. These tyres are not holding together very well."

Raikkonen passes into the chicane as Hamilton struggles for grip. Alonso is now on the Mercedes' tail.

Lap 19

Vettel steadies the gap at the front at 2.8s.

Hamilton: "These guys are on different tyres to me, man". Either he's suggesting the tyres are not consistent between him, Raikkonen and Alonso or he's complaining about how quickly his Mercedes has chewed up its tyres.

Lap 20

Grosjean back on the war path as he lowers the gap to 2.3s to Vettel. Button is still third but yet to pit. Raikkonen is about ten seconds behind team-mate Grosjean and about 0.1s per lap faster.

Alonso attempts to pass Hamilton at the chicane. He doesn't make it stick.

Lap 21

Alonso tries again in turn one but Hamilton fends him off again. The pair duck and dive through the opening sector but the order is still Mercedes, Ferrari.

Mercedes confirm Rosberg is having the same issues as Hamilton. So that would be car issue then. Still problems with the rears for Mercedes.

Lap 22

Alonso tries again around the outside at turn one. Hamilton blocks him off. Alonso tries again around the outside of turns two and three but that's never going to work. Great battle as they head off down the fast corners at five and six.

Hamilton: "I'm pushing, man. I'm pushing".

Lap 23

Hamilton pits and lets Alonso go free in clean air. Looks like Hamilton has switched to three stopper. He takes on another set of mediums.

Back at the front and Grosjean is 1.9s off Vettel. Raikkonen is now up to third and 9.7s off Vettel.

Lap 24

Bianchi's engine has blown. Lots of smoke and some big flames as the car comes to a halt. A proper old fashioned blown engine.

The Marussia rolls back across the track and down hill!

Lap 25

Safety car as the Marussia rolls backwards across the track. Incredible scenes. It's now safe on the otherside of the track on the back straight.

Vettel, Grosjean, Raikkonen and Alonso all pit. Lots of other cars follow suit.

The race is neutralised under the safety car. Raikkonen will close up on team-mate Grosjean so this has worked out well for him and Alonso in fourth. Hamilton is seventh and behind Hulkenberg in sixth, who has only pitted once. Button has also only pitted once.

Lap 26

Vergne is out of the race too with a hydraulic problem. The cars are still behind the safety car at the moment. It looks like the Marussia has now been cleared.

Lap 27

Webber is unlapping himself, which helps him, but is the reason why the restart has taken a little longer.

Lap 28

We're not even half way through this race so there is plenty left to come. Vettel is facing a big fight from Grosjean and Raikkonen now.

Carlos asks: "With this SC, is Webber allowed to get the lap back?"

Yes, that's all within the regulations.

Lap 29

The safety car stays out for another lap. Webber has now nearly caught up with the back of the pack. We should be racing again soon.

Safety car in this lap. Vettel is told he needs to take it easy on the brakes, which is not what he wants to hear with two Lotuses behind him. That might be a fuel saving message, though rather than a brake problem.

Lap 30

We're racing again. Grosjean locks a tyre into the chicane before they get going again, but it's as they were at the start of this lap.

Perez has a look at Maldonado into turn one for eighth but can't make it stick. Webber makes light work of Chilton at the back and passes Pic too.

Lap 31

Vettel leads by 1.0s as they cross the line. Raikkonen is 0.8s behind his team-mate with Alonso a further 0.6s back in fourth.

Vettel has done well to get out of DRS range of Grosjean. The Lotus was quicker before the safety car but Vettel is faster now.

Lap 32

Vettel sets a new fastest lap but is still a second clear of Grosjean.

Webber is now facing stiffer competition as he tries to find a way past Gutierrez.

Yitzchok says: "Doesn't Alonso have to pit again because he hasn't used his soft compound yet??"

Yes, but we're expecting them all to pit again. Making a set of tyres last over 30 laps is going to be very tough. Alonso will, however, have to fit softs for his final stint.

Lap 33

Having said that, there is a chance Lotus might be trying to make the rest of this race on this set. Grosjean's engineer said he was on Plan A, which would have been a two stop, but wasn't sure about the tyres.

Lap 34

Grosjean is now the fastest man on the track. The gap remains at 1.0s and he has Raikkonen 0.8s behind.

Hamilton is now trying to find a way past Hulkenberg for sixth. He's on newer tyres, but the Mercedes has been chewing them up today.

Lap 35

Vettel has a poor middle sector and Grosjean has stepped it up all of a sudden. He is now 0.5s off Vettel and about to attack the Red Bull.

Meanwhile, Webber still can't find a way past Gutierrez as he gets squeezed to the outside in turn one.

Lap 36

Grosjean and Raikkonen use the DRS down the pit straight. Grosjean remains 0.5s off Vettel as he crosses the line with Raikkonen 0.8s off.

Perez has passed Maldonado out of turn one and around the outside of turn two. Good move and he's now up to eighth.

Lap 37

Hamilton is all over the back of Hulkenberg but still can't find a way past as the Sauber continues to defend well.

0.6s is the gap at the front. Grosjean is definitely quicker but doesn't quite have the pace to make a move stick into turn one or the chicane.

Lap 38

Hulkenberg pits and Hamilton is given some clean air with 4.0s to Button. Hulkenberg takes on medium tyres so will have to pit again.

Lap 39

Grosjean has dropped a tenth this time round but also pulled away from Raikkonen. Maybe Vettel was just saving fuel/brakes over the last few laps and is now upping his pace again.

Lap 40

Grosjean drops to 1.1s off Vettel as he and Raikkonen start to lose the rear of their cars. Vettel told: "Grosjean has lost the DRS now. Come on!"

Alonso is enjoying a watching brief from fourth, two seconds adrift and catching.

Lap 41

Grosjean pits for medium tyres. He will now try to make the end and needs some fast laps now to put the pressure on Vettel. This may be tactical by Lotus to force Vettel into a stop early on, knowing Lotus has better tyre management for the end of the race.

Raikkonen is flying now as Vettel pits.

Lap 42

Vettel in the pits and takes on another set of mediums. He needed to do that to stay ahead of Grosjean. The Red Bull rejoins ahead of Grosjean. Those tow are now in a straight fight until the end of the race and split by just 0.8s.

Lap 43

Vettel is pushing hard. But Raikkonen is staying out for the moment. Lotus wants to give him a big tyre advantage at the end of the race. Very tactical.

Kimi will be on fresher tyres and Grosjean will likely jump out of his way to allow him to attack Vettel. Grosjean is the pawn in this chess match, used to lure Vettel into an early stop.

Lap 44

Vettel is reacting with a fastest lap. He's not going to go down without a fight. But he has to be careful not to take too much life out of his tyres.

Alonso is also in a good position 3.6s off Raikkonen.

Lap 45

The other option for Lotus is to leave Raikkonen out for the rest of the race. That might be possible, but it's a risk.

Vettel loses some time passing Hamilton in turns one, two and three. A robust defence by the Mercedes but he did not have the tyres to keep the Red Bull at bay.

Grosjean passes Hamilton into the chicane so he can resume his chase of Vettel.

Lap 46

Hamilton pits now. That's his third stop and he will now try to make the end of the race.

Lap 47

Raikkonen remains on track to complete another lap. 14 laps remain, he may be trying to keep these tyres going until the end. Vettel is 15.1s behind at the moment.

Vettel is now behind Button and losing time again.

Lap 48

Button pits and releases Vettel again.

Raikkonen is told his radio is patchy everywhere apart from after turn 12. Not ideal as Lotus try to engineer this victory. He tells the team his tyres are "not bad".

Lap 49

Vettel is 13.8s behind Raikkonen now and 9.2s behind Alonso, but he has to pit again for softs. Vettel is about 0.5s a lap faster than Raikkonen per lap with 12 remaining.

Raikkonen asked if he can go to the end, but with the patchy radio he says: "I told you already!"

Lap 50

And there's the answer. Raikkonen pits for soft tyres. He will now go on a charge. Alonso also pits for softs he'll chase Kimi to the end.

Hamilton finds a way past di Resta for eighth and is now attacking Maldonado for ninth.

Button is the fastest man now on soft tyres.

Lap 51

Raikkonen is 3.9s off Vettel now and on fresher tyres, no doubt Grosjean will be told to shift over.

Sweet revenge for Button as he passes Perez into turn one. Perez pulled that move on him earlier in the race but now Button is the man on softs and he moves up to fifth.

Lap 52

Raikkonen is 0.6s per lap faster than Vettel. But Alonso is the fastest man on the track, over a second quicker than Vettel and 7.1s off the Red Bull.

A slow stop for Maldonado, which is a real shame as he was running well at Williams 600th race. The front right wheel nut wouldn't engage with the wheel gun.

Lap 53

Grosjean told to let Raikkonen through when the Lotus catches up. 1.0s is the gap at the moment so that may be on this lap. Raikkonen is 3.1s off Vettel.

Alonso is still the fastest man and 3.2s off Raikkonen.

Lap 54

Raikkonen still quicker than Grosjean, but it looks like his tyres might be starting to drop off. Degradation levels are very high for the soft.

Lap 55

Raikkonen is 2.7s off Vettel now and starting to be held up by Grosjean. Lotus needs the Frenchman to pull over and let Raikkonen through. This is critical right now for a chance at the race win.

Alonso is 2.0s behind Raikkonen.

Lotus repeat the team order and Grosjean moves over to let his team-mate past into the final chicane. The pawn's work is done for the afternoon, although Alonso is just 1.4s down the road.

Lap 56

Hamilton passes Perez for sixth as the McLaren struggles with its tyres on a two stop strategy.

Lap 57

Raikkonen is now 2.1s off Vettel with four laps remaining. He's about 0.5s a lap faster. Game on! Although catching is one thing, passing is quite another.

Raikkonen can see Vettel now and takes 0.3s out of him the first sector alone. He can smell a win. Grosjean is also about to come under attack from Alonso.

Lap 58

Raikkonen has the gap down to 1.6s. I don't think he's going to be able to do it at this pace. Vettel is under pressure though and can't afford any mistakes.

Alonso is now 0.7s off Grosjean. He will try something before the end of the race.

Lap 59

Raikkonen is now 1.2s off Vettel, who is now having to push very hard indeed. Alonso is 0.6s off Grosjean right now.

Lap 60

Vettel wins the German Grand Prix by 1.0s. Grosjean holds on for third ahead of Alonso 1.8s back.

Webber passes Perez on the last lap for seventh.

Alonso comes to a stop, most likely out of fuel.

Vettel ecstatic over the team radio "they gave me a run for my money today".

Grosjean and Raikkonen receive a round of applauds in parc ferme. They threw everything at trying to beat Vettel but it didn't quite pay off.

Vettel leads Raikkonen by 1.0s at the start of the final lap.

Hamilton passes Button for fifth around the outside in turns two and three.

Vettel told to "empty the tank" and looks clear. Raikkonen gets the use of DRS but it's not enough.

Horner says he expected Raikkonen to stay out at the end of that race rather than the late stop for soft tyres. He also says that the cameraman hit by a tyre after Webber's stop is "battered and bruised" but okay.

We've also finally seen Raikkonen's hair cut. It's not quite as wild as we'd hoped. I think he's had it tidied up a bit since Silverstone.

A very enjoyable race today. Vettel also looked like he enjoyed as he chats to Raikkonen ahead of the podium ceremony.

Vettel cheered onto the podium this week. He wasn't in Canada last month.

As the German national anthem rings out over the Nurburgring, we've got to say goodbye. Thanks for joining us this weekend. We've now got a three week break to the Hungarian Grand Prix, but there will be plenty of reaction to come this evening and over the rest of the week to this race. Don't forget the Young Driver Test (with added race drivers) is also coming up in a week and half so plenty of reasons to stay logged on to ESPN.