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The Hockenheimring returned after a year's break, and it didn't fail to disappoint the fans. Sebastian Vettel entered the German Grand Prix as the Championship leader, and Lewis Hamilton was behind him, by 8 points.
Vettel finished above everyone in the Qualifying round as the fastest driver on the day. Behind him were the two Finnish drivers (Bottas & Raikkonen) in 2nd and 3rd places.
Lewis Hamilton had a dreadful Qualifying round as his car was retired after Q2, and he subsequently started 14th on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo was the other big name who failed to enter Q3 and started 19th on the grid.
The race was off to a straightforward start, as the top 3 maintained their positions, with Hamilton and Ricciardo overtaking the mid-level cars as expected.
But, it was the rain and the safety car towards the end, that made sure the race ended in a dramatic fashion and changed the entire course of this competition.
Here are the 5 talking points from the German Grand Prix:
#5 Yet another Red Bull DNF
Things don't seem to be going smoothly for Red Bull for the past couple of Grands Prix. Max Verstappen ended up with a DNF in the last GP (British), but this time it was Daniel Ricciardo who couldn't finish the race.
The Australian failed to impress in the Qualifying round, as he started 19th on the grid, while his teammate started 4th.
Ricciardo managed a decent start and was climbing the ladder, slowly and steadily. He managed to climb as far as 6th on the grid, behind teammate Max Verstappen.
But, shortly after, he pulled over, and the team asked him to retire the car. Ricciardo did confirm in a post-race interview that it was due to an engine failure, and he was not sure of the specifics at that point in time. It was a pretty remarkable race for him till that point but, ended rather disappointingly.
#4 Nico Hulkenberg surprises his hometown crowd
Hulkenberg started his home race, 7th on the grid, behind both the Haas cars and had a decent start, but he often shifted positions on the grid.
When Grosjean and Magnussen both dropped down, Hulkenberg took advantage of the situation and went up to 6th. He did well not to fall further below that position.
With Vettel crashing out, and the safety car deployed, Hulkenberg managed to finish 5th, which is the highest he has achieved this season.
While one German's day came to an abrupt and an unfortunate end, the other German gave the home fans something to cheer for.
#3 Vettel crashes out, potentially gifting the Championship to Hamilton
The Championship leader started off perfectly and maintained his position (1st) throughout, until his first pit-stop, after which, he dropped down to 4th. He still managed to regain the lead and go on top of the grid.
But, the weather didn't particularly help the German's cause. Towards the end of the race, it started raining, and this made the track quite slippery. Many teams opted for Intermediary tires as a precautionary measure, but Vettel and Ferrari opted to continue with Ultrasoft tires.
With just 16 laps (67 laps in total), Vettel made a minor error, which made him slip and crash into a barricade. It was clear until this point, that Vettel would go on to win the Grand Prix comfortably.
Bottas took the lead from Vettel for a short span, with Raikkonen and Hamilton following him in 2nd and 3rd place. The entire course of the race changed after that incident, as nobody could predict the final outcome of the race.
#2 Historical win for Lewis Hamilton
This was probably the best race in Lewis Hamilton's career. After a truly horrid Qualifying round, it was truly remarkable to see Hamilton come out on top and win the German Grand Prix.
Starting 14th on the grid, The 4-time World Champion overtook cars in quick succession and went up to 5th, behind Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, and Verstappen.
With Verstappen's pit-stop and Vettel's crash in the 51st lap, it was clear that the Englishman would get a podium finish at least. But, with Bottas and Raikkonen both entering the pits, and with the safety car deployed, Hamilton quickly took the lead in the race and didn't look like he would give that up too easily.
With just over 11 laps to go, Bottas and Hamilton were going head to head. The Finn was soon asked to back down and let Hamilton go ahead in the race. The final result came as quite a shock to everyone.
#1 Mercedes go ahead in the Constructors' Championship
Mercedes have taken the lead back in the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari. The Silver Arrows lead Ferrari by 8 points and sit on top of the leaderboard at 310 points.
For most of the race, it looked like both the Ferraris would earn a podium finish, but the unpredictable and changeable German weather ensured a podium finish for both the Mercedes drivers.
