German Grand Prix LIVE: Max Verstappen wins second race of the season as Hamilton and Bottas crash
Re-live the live updates from Hockenheim where championship leader Lewis Hamilton endured a nightmare afternoon as Red Bull took the spoils
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen mastered the tricky Hockenheim conditions to win the German Grand Prix as both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas crashed out of the running on a miserable day for the championship leaders.
Hamilton looked on course for victory after leading from the front, but repeated accidents throughout the field caused chaos in the running order as different strategies played out. After Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed out of fourth position, Hamilton followed him into the wall the following lap with the safety car already deployed, which required him to pit immediately for a new front wing and land him a five-second time penalty for missing the pit entry.
The error allowed Verstappen to take the lead of the race, and despite further safety car periods due to Bottas' accident at Turn One, the Red Bull youngster was able to take the chequered flag and finish ahead of a hard-charging Sebastian Vettel who went from last to second, with the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat a surprise finisher in third, one day after the birth of his first child. Re-live the action below.
What time does it start?
The German Grand Prix gets underway at 2:10pm BST (3:10pm CET).
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 at 7pm.
Starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 11.767secs
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:12.113
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:12.129
4 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:12.180
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.538
6 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:12.851
7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:12.897
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:13.065
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:13.126
10 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari No Time Set
11 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.786
12 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:12.789
13 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:12.799
14 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.135
15 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:13.450
16 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.333
17 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.461
18 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:14.721
19 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:14.839
20 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari No Time Set
Lap 8: Magnussen and Raikkonen are locked in a battle for sixth, but looming big behind them is the Ferrariu of Sebastian Vettel and he blasts his way past Magnussen to take seventh - and you imagine it won't be long until he gets Raikkonen too.
However, Ferrari are under investigation for an unsafe release into the path of Romain Grosjean, and after watching replays I reckon they've got a penalty coming their way.
Lap 9: Magnussen's gamble has not paid off, as Haas bring him in to change onto the inters and drop down to 16th position.
Lap 10: More rain of the heavier variety is expected in about 10 minutes, but right now the track is drying to point that dry tyres might be needed in the next few minutes.
Lap 12: What a safe! Leclerc is on full lock as he comes through the final corners, but holds the Ferrari on the track and continues on his way in fourth place. He put his two left tyres out on the kerb and that sent him in a direction he did not want to go. The sister car meanwhile is having similar issues to Saturday, as Vettel's engineer is talking to him about turbo issues - albeit in Italian.
Lap 14: We're about three seconds a lap away from the dry tyre crossover.
Meanwhile, the stewards have punished Leclerc - or rather they've punished Ferrari with a fine rather than a race penalty - for the unsafe release.
Lap 15: Ricciardo's engine has let go! A plume of smoke is billowing out the back of the Renault and he pulls off outside Turn Eight to end his race as the second retirement of the race.
Lap 16: Leclerc pits from fourth place and gets a fresh set of intermediate tyres, though the stop is slow and clocks at 4.8s. However, he had a healthy gap over Hulkenberg and the Renault follows him into the pits anyway.
Virtual safety car ended! We're back to green.
Lap 17: Verstappen has a divebomb effort on Bottas!, He brakes massively later than Bottasand that gives him a chance of passing on the inside of the hairpin with Bottas on the outside line, but the rear of his Red Bull lets go and nearly spins him off the track. He's dropped back quit a far bit, but behind Leclerc is flying and is 3.2s a lapp FASTER than leader Hamilton!
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments