Nico Rosberg wins 2014 German GP

Nico Rosberg has capped of a great few days by winning his home grand prix for the first time. He did it in a canter, too, with a 20.7 second margin over Valtteri Bottas in P2. Lewis Hamilton couldn’t quite make it a 1-2 for Mercedes, but should be happy with third after starting the race from P20.

Since the disappointment of his gearbox failure in British Grand Prix Rosberg has signed a lucrative contract extension, got married and seen his country win the World Cup. Not a bad run of results and don’t forget he’s also extended his world championship lead over Hamilton to boot.

Hamilton’s charge through the field might have yielded an even better result had he not suffered front wing damage after making his way past former teammate Jenson Button. In the end he didn’t quite have enough pace to get past Bottas.

Sebastian Vettel finished fourth, ahead of a desperately close late stoush between Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo. Alonso crossed the line less than a tenth ahead of Ricciardo, having overtaken him just a few laps prior.

Nico Hulkenberg continued his run of points-winning results in every race so far this year with P7. Jenson Button led home his junior teammate Kevin Magnussen. While Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.

Another spectacular first lap incident ended the race of Felipe Massa after he clipped Magnussen at the first corner, sending both cars off track. Massa’s car flipped before ending on its wheels and the Brazilian emerged unscathed.

Ricciardo had made a clean start off the line but was forced off track to avoid the Massa-Magnussen incident and rejoined the track well down in P15. Clearly, Daniel could have done better than P6 today; he displayed flashes of brilliance at times while charging through the field and especially late when defending against a much quicker Alonso.

Other incidents attracting attention was a fire to Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso and a late race spin at the last corner from Adrian Sutil, which left his Sauber stricken on the main straight. It took some time to move his car off the track and you have to wonder why a Safety Car was not deployed to allow marshalls increased safety while dealing with the car.

We back up again next week for the Hungarian Grand Prix and let’s hope that race offers some of the excitement and close racing we saw at Hockenheim.

2014 German Grand Prix final placings

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 67 Laps (25 pts)
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +20.7 secs (18 pts)
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +22.5 secs (15 pts)
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – +44.0 secs (12 pts)
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – +52.4 secs (10 pts)
6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing – +52.5 secs (8 pts)
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India – +64.1 secs (6 pts)
8. Jenson Button McLaren – +84.7 secs (4 pts)
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren- – +1 Lap (2 pts)
10. Sergio Perez Force India – +1 Lap (1 pt)
11. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari – +1 Lap
12. Pastor Maldonado Lotus – +1 Lap
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +1 Lap
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +1 Lap
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +1 Lap
16. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham – +2 Lap
17. Max Chilton Marussia – +2 Lap
18. Marcus Ericsson Caterham – +2 Lap

Retired/not classified
Adrian Sutil Sauber – +20 Laps
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso – +23 Laps
Romain Grosjean Lotus – +41 Laps
Felipe Massa Williams – + 67 Laps

Fastest lap
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 1:19.908 (Lap 53)

2014 F1 world championship – Drivers (Top 10)

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 190
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 176
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull – 106
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 97
5. Valtteri Bottas Williams – 91
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull – 82
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India – 69
8. Jenson Button McLaren – 59
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren – 37
10. Felipe Massa Williams – 30

2014 F1 world championship – Constructors

1. Mercedes – 366
2. Red Bull Racing – 188
3. Williams-Mercedes – 121
4. Ferrari – 116
5. Force India-Mercedes – 98
6. McLaren-Mercedes – 96
7. STR-Renault – 15
8. Lotus-Renault – 8
9. Marussia-Ferrari – 2
10. Sauber-Ferrari – 0
11. Caterham-Renault – 0