Verstappen Wins A Truly Chaotic German Grand Prix

With two races to go before the annual summer break, the Formula 1 circus moved on from our own Silverstone circuit to Hockenheim for this year’s German Grand Prix. With Mercedes having won every single race bar one this year, many fans and indeed most occupants of the media centre were hoping for a little more variety and unpredictability and wow, that’s just what we got come race time on Sunday afternoon. After a thrilling rain affected Grand Prix it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who took the spoils in front of his travelling army of fans.

Ferrari had made a strong start to the weekend when their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets after Friday’s opening free practice session ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and they continued this form in the later second practice period, albeit with the young Monegasque Leclerc this time ahead of local German favourite Vettel as Hamilton was again the best of the rest. Unfortunately Pierre Gasly made news of the wrong kind when he forced temporary red flags late on after putting his Red Bull car into the barriers at the final corner.

The following morning Hamilton told his team he was feeling unwell, with a sore throat, but, although they prepped reserve driver Esteban Ocon just in case, the British reigning champion drove in final practice and then qualifying.

Ferrari’s good form continued in that final practice session, with Leclerc again fastest, followed by Verstappen and Vettel, but how things were to change when it really mattered during Saturday afternoon’s qualifying hour.

Multiple champion Vettel has been going through a difficult period, peppered with a few driving errors and plain bad luck, and the latter rose its ugly head again at the start of qualifying when his red Ferrari suddenly suffered a problem with airflow to the turbo and he was the only driver unable to set a time. To the dismay of the massed German fans this meant their hero would have to start the following day’s Grand Prix from the very back of the grid.

Ferrari’s problems didn’t stop there though as Leclerc was subsequently unable to take part in the final part of qualifying and fight for pole position as his car developed a fuel system issue. It was both infuriating and embarrassing for the iconic Italian team that, after no reliability problems during the four hours of practice running, both cars broke down just when a front row 1-2 might have been possible.

In the absence of both Ferraris, Hamilton took pole position and Verstappen claimed the right to start alongside him. Immediately to their rear another Mercedes/Red Bull pairing saw Valtteri Bottas and Gasly set the next quickest times.

Come race day wet weather meant that the start of the Grand Prix was preceded by four formation laps behind the safety car as the drivers got used to the challenging conditions and, when the subsequent standing start took place, it was Hamilton and Bottas who romped clear. Vettel showed he meant business too though as he quickly climbed from dead last to 14th position and his team-mate Leclerc moved up from 10th to 6th place.

Verstappen had lost ground at the start, but was soon past Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen to take third position at the Hairpin. Then the first of the day’s dramas began as Sergio Perez put his Racing Point car backwards into the barriers approaching the stadium section of the circuit, calling the safety car into action.

This prompted various drivers including Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas to pit and switch from full wet tyres to the intermediate wet weather specification and, when the safety car headed back to its resting place, Hamilton was still out front and his main pursuers were Bottas and Verstappen.

Ferrari’s woes continued as the team was fined for releasing Charles Leclerc in the pit lane in front of Haas’ Romain Grosjean, but their young rising star at least avoided any penalty himself.

Next up came a short virtual safety car period to assist the removal of Daniel Ricciardo’s smoky Renault as Leclerc pitted again for a fresh set of inter tyres and was soon absolutely flying. At this stage Hamilton was leading from Bottas and Verstappen before the latter duo headed down the pit lane to switch to medium slick tyres.

The Dutch driver was not impressed by this strategic move as he promptly made a 360 degree spin in the final sector before continuing and a further virtual safety car period caused by stricken cars ensued. Soon after Leclerc pitted again for soft tyres and rejoined the track behind the leading Hamilton, but ahead of Bottas and Verstappen. The frontman then also switched to soft tyres.

Leclerc’s afternoon was about to end though as he slid wide at the penultimate turn and became stuck in the gravel, emitting an anguished “No!” over his team radio. This forced the safety car to take to the circuit again as Hamilton led from Bottas and Verstappen.

Hamilton then had his own off, losing part of his front wing, and he pitted to switch to inters, but his team wasn’t quite prepared for his arrival. Bottas soon also changed to intermediate tyres as Verstappen led behind the safety car ahead of Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg.

As the safety car returned down the pit lane and racing resumed it was announced that Hamilton had been awarded a five second penalty for making a mistake when entering the pit lane the wrong side of a safety related bollard.

Soon frontman Verstappen was over eight seconds clear of Hülkenberg, Bottas and Hamilton before both Mercedes drivers moved past the German, who then went off at the final corner and triggered another safety car intervention.

Come the restart Verstappen and Bottas pitted for slicks, followed by Hamilton who also served his five second penalty and rejoined down in twelfth position, all of which left the unlikely Lance Stroll leading the Grand Prix for his Racing Point team!

Verstappen was quickly back in charge though and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat swept past Stroll for second place on the run to the Hairpin. Then Hamilton went off the track again at the first corner, had to pit again and rejoined the chaotic fray in last position.

Mercedes’ woes soon worsened as Bottas flew off the track at the same place, badly damaging his car and putting him out of the race, causing, yes, you’ve guessed it, yet another safety car period!

Racing resumed with just five laps remaining and a charging Vettel gradually made his way up to an amazing second place after starting at the very back of the grid.

Well, as we all paused for breath as the chequered flag flew, it was Verstappen who emerged from the mayhem with the victory spoils and the extra point for the fastest race lap, joined on the podium by Vettel and an absolutely delighted Kvyat, as Hamilton ended up only 11th ontrack and therefore out of the points.

However, both Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi were subsequently each given thirty second penalties as the clutches on their Alfa Romeo cars were deemed to have potentially mimicked outlawed traction control for the tricky wet start. They had finished seventh and eighth, but the time penalties dropped them to 12th and 13th respectively, which promoted Hamilton to ninth and Robert Kubica to tenth, giving the beleaguered Williams team its first point of the season.

What a race!

Once everyone had calmed down it was time for the teams to pack up as quickly as possible and hit the road, bound for Budapest and this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix just one week later. It’s a beautiful city and, with the excellent little Hungaroring track not far away, I can very much recommend both for an F1 weekend away.

2019 Formula 1 German Grand Prix

1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1hr44m31.275s
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) +7.333s
3 Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) +8.305s
4 Lance Stroll (Racing Point) +8.966s
5 Carlos Sainz (McLaren) +9.583s
6 Alexander Albon (Toro Rosso) +10.052s
7 Romain Grosjean (Haas) +16.838s
8 Kevin Magnussen (Haas) +18.765s
9 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +19.667s
10 Robert Kubica (Williams) +24.987s
11 George Russell (Williams) +26.404s
12 Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romro) +42.214s
13 Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) +43.849s
14 Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) Retired
15 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) Retired
16 Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) Retired
17 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) Retired
18 Lando Norris (McLaren) Retired
19 Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) Retired
20 Sergio Perez (Racing Point) Retired

2019 Formula 1 Drivers Championship (after 11 rounds of 21)

1 Lewis Hamilton 225
2 Valtteri Bottas 184
3 Max Verstappen 162

2019 Formula 1 Constructors Championship (after 11 rounds of 21)

1 Mercedes 409
2 Ferrari 261
3 Red Bull 217