Lewis hits back at The 'Ring

Lewis hits back at The 'Ring

A cold, damp and distinctly British-looking Nürburging was the venue for the German Grand Prix. The circuit is a mere shadow of the old Nordschleife track but is often the scene for quite an action-packed race, frequently helped by rain. Unusually, the front row of the grid was Vettel-less, the current leader had to make do with an almost sluggish third place with his team mate Webber on pole and a flying Hamilton in second.

Hamilton sprang into action at the start taking the lead from Webber with Alonso leapfrogging the sister Red Bull of Vettel. Alonso was re-passed by Vettel at the start of the second lap after running wide, whilst Hamilton initially began to pull away at the front leaving Webber, Vettel and Alonso to squabble amongst themselves. Webber then began to catch the leader, leaving Alonso and Vettel battling for third. Alonso prevailed on lap eight, passing Vettel into the first corner. Further back, Button was running off the pace in the midfield, looking distinctly unhappy sat behind Petrov's Renault. Vettel survived a big scare on lap nine, putting his car a couple of inches too wide and spinning off the track but somehow recovering without losing a place.

Up at the front it was all action when Hamilton ran a little wide into the final chicane. Webber seized the opportunity and grabbed the lead at the last corner of lap 12 but Hamilton never gave up and took the lead back at the next corner. All the while Alonso was closing on the pair of them as they began to overwork their tyres. Webber duly pitted later that lap, leaving Hamilton to fend off Alonso's advances until they both pitted on the same lap. When the front three rejoined, Massa was in the lead for a lap or so until he pitted, leaving Webber at the front of the pack with Alonso right on Hamilton's tail behind.

Further down the order, Vettel was having a pretty average race, loitering in the top six but not looking like any kind of threat to the leaders. Towards the end of the leaders' second stint, the three at the front began to close up again much the same as they did at the end of the first stint. Webber was first to pit from the lead but lost out to Hamilton as Lewis rejoined the track after his stop. Hamilton then lost the lead to Alonso when Alonso pitted, but as ever, Hamilton wasn't in the mood to lose a place and drove right around the outside of the Spaniard at the second corner to retake the lead in a brilliant move which made Alonso look just a little bit dopey. Hamilton began to fly at the front of the field and opened up a sizable lead over the following couple of laps.

By now, Button started making progress through the order, climbing up to sixth place having pressured the Mercedes of Rosberg into a mistake. Unfortunately for Jenson he had to retire on lap 36 with hydraulics problems, just as he was starting to make an impression on the race. Meanwhile, his team mate was flying at the front of the field, setting fastest lap after fastest lap and easing out his lead over Alonso and Webber. The best battle at this point of the race came between Massa and Vettel, with Vettel looking pretty ragged at times while trying to find a way past the Ferrari.

Hamilton was the first of the leaders to pit for the final time for the slower, harder tyres. Alonso and Webber decided to stay out for another lap or two to take advantage of their older softer tyres. Alonso then pitted but he hadn't been quick enough on his soft tyres and Hamilton retook the position. Webber was now in the lead and flying but was matched by Hamilton on the harder tyres. Webber had a near six second gap to close up to Hamilton but try as he might, Hamilton beat him in nearly every sector and when he did eventually pit he came out in a relatively distant third place.

The final bit of drama came on the last lap when Massa and Vettel pitted at the same time, Massa lead the German into the pits but the Red Bull team were faster and Vettel snatched fourth position from Massa. Sutil finished a highly creditable sixth place in the Force India with Rosberg, and Schumacher following him home.

Not quite a classic, but entertaining and very interesting from a championship point of view. Vettel was nowhere near his high standards and the Red Bull didn't seem as fast as it has done so far this year. This could well be a turning point in the season. The lead Vettel has is going to be incredibly hard to get on top of, particularly if his pursuers continue to take points off one another by sharing the wins between them. Hungary is next, another circuit which is tricky to pass on but still normally produces an interesting race – let's see whether Vettel fares any better there. Hamilton will certainly hope he doesn't, much like Vettel will hope Hamilton doesn't carry his ominous form from this weekend any further.

Stuart McCann is from IntentsGP.com:  For Silverstone or Spa, make your F1 Weekend Hassle Free - Camp with intentsGP!

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