Sebastian Vettel piloted his Red Bull RB9 to victory at the German Grand Prix at Nurburgring, becoming the first German driver to do so since the dominant Michael Schumacher in 2004.
Vettel started from second on the grid behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was searching for his first win of the season after his second straight pole position. But Vettel and teammate Mark Webber, who started in third, gobbled up the Mercedes right away after Hamilton spun his wheels. Vettel led a pack of Webber, Hamilton and Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean that pulled away from the rest of the field.
Hamilton was the first to pit on lap seven, followed by Vettel on lap eight. Webber made a stop the following lap, but left before his right rear tire was secure, causing it to roll off and hit a media member in pit lane. The victim was sent to hospital with minor injuries, while Webber was rolled back to the pits and down into 21st place. Amazingly, he was able to come back through the field and finish in seventh.
Taking advantage of Webber’s drop after the first round of pit stops, Grosjean jumped up to second position. Following the trend in qualifying, the Lotus cars operated in peak form with help from the warm summer conditions.
On lap 23, the Marussia of Jules Bianchi caught fire. When he jumped out of the car, it began to roll backwards across the circuit, bringing out the safety car and allowing the two Lotuses to close in on Vettel. He pulled away on the restart, but a long 25-lap stint on the Pirelli mediums saw Raikkonen take the lead in the tail end of the race.
When asked if he could make them last the remaining laps, Raikkonen responded “I already told you.” But his 13-second lead was dwindling following Vettel’s last pit, so he came in with 11 laps remaining for a set of soft tires, hoping the added grip would let him challenge Vettel at the end.
Raikkonen dutifully passed his teammate Grosjean for second, catching Vettel in every sector. With just two laps remaining, Raikkonen came within 0.04 seconds of DRS range, but was never able to get within one second of Vettel to make a last minute pass.
Vettel held firm and crossed the line 1.008 seconds ahead of Raikkonen, with Grosjean taking third, 5.8 seconds back. It is Vettel’s first victory at his home Grand Prix and allowed him to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship.
“It was a tough race; it was one of the toughest for a long time,” Vettel said. “I’m happy the race wasn’t two or three laps longer, as Kimi was a bit quicker towards the end. I’m very happy that it worked out and it’s very special. The team worked really hard to give me the chance to win this weekend and we got it.”
Vettel currently sits at 157 points ahead of Fernando Alonso (123), Raikkonen (116) and Lewis Hamilton (99). With points from both drivers, Red Bull sits atop the standings with 250 points. Mercedes is in second with 183, while Ferrari is in third with 180. The double podium by Lotus brings them closer to third-place in the standings with 157 points.
Photos: LAT Photographic
