Hamilton battles to Hockenheim victory

A severe shunt involving Toyota's Timo Glock just beyond the midway point of the 67-lap race at Hockenheim had resulted in the evaporation of a comfortable lead established by Hamilton.

But, with a helping hand from McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and two stunning overtaking manoeuvres on title rival Felipe Massa in his Ferrari and Nelson Piquet during the closing stages, Hamilton triumphed.

The 23-year-old now has a four-point cushion in the championship standings over Massa, who could only finish third behind fellow Brazilian Piquet, with the Renault driver claiming the most remarkable result of his life.

Ron Dennis apologised to Hamilton while he was on his celebratory lap for a mistake during the safety car period following Glock's smash that almost cost him the win.

"Very sorry we made it a little more difficult for you," remarked Dennis, before jokingly adding: "Well done, I wanted to give you the opportunity of driving a great racing car!" A chuckling Hamilton replied: "That's okay, Ron. I forgive in some ways."

-Hamilton won the British GP two weeks ago, so he went to Germany full of confidence and, after dominating practice, he followed up by clinching the third pole position of the season and the ninth of his career.

Hamilton then made a perfectly executed start off the grid and, for the first 35 laps, all went to plan as he comfortably led by 11.5 seconds from Massa.

But then came Glock's spectacular shunt, turning the race on its head. Running wide at the final turn heading into the start-finish straight, Glock's right-rear wheel appeared to dislodge, sending him hurtling backwards across the track and into a concrete wall.

The momentum of the shunt propelled him back across the circuit before he finally came to rest on the grass in front of the main grandstand.

With debris strewn across the home stretch, it unsurprisingly resulted in the emergence of the safety car, bunching up the field and, in turn, significantly eroding Hamilton's lead.

Fortunately, Glock emerged unscathed from the cockpit of his car, although he did appear to be in pain as he rubbed his lower back and he was eventually taken to a local hospital for checks.

The field then filed behind the safety car for a couple of laps prior to the pit-lane reopening, sparking a flurry of stops. Eleven drivers dived in for new rubber, fuelling to the end, but, surprisingly, Hamilton did not do so and, instead, Kovalainen was the McLaren man who came in.

McLaren appeared to have taken a considerable gamble with Hamilton, especially as he emerged in fifth behind Kovalainen when he finally made his second stop on lap 51.

But, within two laps, Kovalainen ran wide at one point, appearing to do so deliberately to allow Hamilton through.

When BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld pitted again, that propelled Hamilton up to third, and so he began his hunt for Massa and shock leader Piquet, who had benefitted from running a one-stop plan. Like a school bully, Hamilton barged Massa out of the way on lap 57 into the hairpin, forcing him wide again as the Brazilian tried to respond through the subsequent corners.

That just left Piquet and, on lap 60, Hamilton pulled off the same move at the same part of the track on the sport's other Brazilian and then it was a clean run to the finish and the eighth win of his career.

Behind the top three came Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber, followed by Kovalainen and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who is now seven points behind Hamilton.

Robert Kubica was seventh in his BMW Sauber, with Sebastian Vettel taking the final point for Toro Rosso. David Coulthard and Jenson Button could only manage 13th and 17th for Red Bull and Honda respectively.

Explaining the safety car situation, Hamilton said: "I didn't plan that. I would have preferred a more comfortable race.

"We got a decent start, had two decent stints, but the team opted for me to stay out. Hey, we all have decisions to make and, for sure, we will learn from this one.

"I then kept pushing after my second stop and credit to Heikki who is a great team-mate, who could see I was quicker."

Speaking on his passes on Massa and Piquet, he added: "I was told I was a second quicker than Felipe.

"I knew I only had a small window before my tyres would start to grain, so I was able to get quite close. I managed to get him under braking and it was great fun.

"I thought my work was done, but I was told I still had Nelson in front of me, but I managed to do that cleanly and fairly."