F1: Verstappen Wins Rain-Soaked German GP; Vettel Finishes Second

Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen claimed his second win of the year as the young racer mastered challenging conditions to win the 2019 Formula 1 German Grand Prix. The race started under the clouds only for the track to dry out around the closing stages and saw a number of the big wigs losing control at the Hockenheim circuit. Coming in second was Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel who climbed 18 spots after a qualifying gaffe to take a podium finish, while Daniil Kvyat finished third in his first podium finish of the season. The German GP was disastrous for Mercedes however, as pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton finished 11th while Valtteri Bottas crashed out.

Lewis Hamilton started on pole and held on to the lead for the first half of the race

The German GP was welcomed by the rain gods, which meant the race saw its first test of F1's new wet-weather starting procedures. After four laps of formation behind the safety car, the race finally saw a standing start as the drivers grew impatient. All the cars on the grid were wearing slick tyres as the standing water on the track risked aquaplaning.

Hamilton was at the front and successfully converted the pole-position into a lead, while the second placed Verstappen lost time due to too much wheelspin. This allowed Bottas and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen to move into second and third respectively, which now looked like a Mercedes dominated race till the chequered flag. But that was just the start of this unpredictable race that saw bumps and thuds from the opening lap itself.

Daniil Kvyat and Lance Stroll put up a good fight in the closing stages, only to be passed by Vettel for P2

The German GP's first round of the safety car arrived at the end of the second lap when Racing Point's Sergio Perez crashed into the barrier at Turn 11. The race would go on to have frequent visits by the safety car as the cars spun and crashed through the 64 lap race. The race restarted on Lap 4 and soon there was a dry line forming that made wet tyres a wrong choice. The drivers decided to switch to intermediates as the track conditions changed rapidly.

By Lap 10, Hamilton was well into the lead by a margin of 2.8s over Bottas with Verstappen placed third. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was quickly climbing the order now along with Vettel also having made up to P7 with some strategic choices. By Lap 12, the Ferrari rookie moved behind Verstappen at P4 ahead of Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Vettel. Hamilton though had built a lead of 4.7s.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo was the next to call it a day after a technical issue with his car. This brought the Virtual Safety Car on track, allowing several drivers to shift to intermediates again. Leclerc benefitted from the VSC, which helped improve his pace. By Lap 22, the Ferrari driver was under 4s off Verstappen, with the latter taking the fight to Bottas for P3.

Bottas was the first of the two W10s to pit on Lap 26 and opted for a fresh set of mediums, while Vettel moved to slicks a couple of laps earlier as the track had dried enough, if not completely. The following lap saw Leclerc pit as well for softs and Hamilton was in next for a set of mediums. However, the race leader's entry in the pits also saw a fresh spell of showers.

Charles Leclerc crashed on Lap 29 running on slicks, Hamilton too had a high slide at the same turn

As the German GP reached its halfway point, Leclerc was the first in th top order to lose control and aquaplaned at Turn 17 into the barriers. Hamilton too lost control at the same point on the following lap but recovered despite scraping the barrier and damaging his front wing. He immediately headed straight for the pits but the Mercedes crew was far from prepared for the racer's arrival. This, in turn, saw the team lose time as Hamilton shifted to intermediates and had his front wing replaced. Moreover, the Briton was also hit with a five-second penalty for driving on the wrong side of the pit-entry bollard.

It was another set of pitstops by the rest of the field as the track was clearly not ready for slick tyres yet. Hamilton joined behind the safety car in fifth place, while Verstappen moved into the lead and held on to the position till the end of the race. By Lap 40, Nico Hulkenberg was the latest casualty of the weather and saw the safety car back on track, allowing Verstappen to pit for a fresh set of intermediates. Lance Stroll of Racing Point also pitted for slicks around the same time, followed by Kvyat. The drivers rejoined at the back of the field but soon other drivers too pitted that promoted them to P2 and P3 behind Verstappen.

Kvyat was trying to make a move past Stroll and found an opportunity on Lap at the hairpin to move into P2. Hamilton, on the other hand spun down to 15th on the same lap but continued his run. His teammate wasn't so lucky though with Bottas crashed on Lap 56, ending his run in the race.

Max Verstappen took his second win of the season with a lead of 7.3s

The top order had never-seen-before line-up with Verstappen, Kvyat, and Stroll, followed by Carlos Sainz and Vettel. As the safety car went in for the last time, there were five laps left and Vettel ensured to make the most of it as he passed Sainz to take P4 immediately after the restart. He found another opportunity to pass Stroll two laps later and cleared Kvyat in the next round to finish second. Verstappen, however, had a comfortable lead by now 7.3s over Vettel at the chequered flag.  

Finishing fourth was Stroll followed by Sainz and Alex Albon, who started from the pits with intermediates. After a strong start, Raikkonen settled for seventh followed by teammate Antonio Giovinazzi. Bagging the last points were Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. Hamilton finished 11th in his worst finish of the season, and was followed by Robert Kubica and George Russell of Williams.

The German GP had a number of retirements including Red Bull's Pierre Gasly, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Lando Norris of McLaren, Ricciardo and Perez. With a strong show through the season, Verstappen now sits third on the points table in the driver standings.