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Nico won race, but Lewis did the drive

HOCKENHEIM, Germany - It's a home race for Mercedes' Nico Rosberg as he won a comfortable 2014 German GP. Williams' Valterri Bottas was second and Lewis Hamilton finished a strong third after fighting all the way from the back of the grid in 20th.

It was Mercedes' first win on the Hockenheim track.

The 2014 German GP started with a bang as McLaren’s Kevin Magnussesn took out Williams’ Felipe Massa and caused him to flip over in a startling horizontal 360.

STAR OF THE RACE

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was surely the star of the race as he started 20th after the team had to change his gearbox due to a brake failure that caused him to crash during qualifying on Saturday. He fought hard to reach the podium.

By Lap 13 Hamilton was seventh and trying to chase down team mate Rosberg who was leading the race. By Lap 20 he was taking on Williams’ Valterri Bottas in second.

Mercedes had to remove its front-rear inter-connected suspension (Fric system) from its dominant W05 cars for the 2014 German GP - as did most other teams. This follows an International Automobile Federation ruling. Earlier this week Wheels24 reported that other teams, among them Red Bull, McLaren, Force India, Toro Rosso and Caterham, would also race without the hydraulically-controlled system.

On Lap 28 Lotus’ Romain Grosjean abandoned the race with a technical problem on his car. On the same lap Force India’s Nico Hulkenburg also reported some problems as his team looked for a ‘driver default’. Lap 30 saw McLaren’s Jenson Button run into an expected incident with his former team mate Hamilton as they made contact, causing damage to Hamilton’s left front wing. And as Hamilton has with his gentlemanly ways, he waved to Button to apologise.

Felipe Massa reported during an interview after the race that he was fine but quite down. “I am so disappointed. Another race that another car pushed me out and that my race had to end like that."

On Lap 39 Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was trying to hold off Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for fourth. Hamilton regained third by Lap 40 but reported that the “front left is not going to last” and had to “box” again, pushing him back to fifth.

KYVAT GOES OUT IN FLAMES

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kyvat’s car caught fire spectacularly just moments after he had reported “loss of power” over the team radio on Lap 45 and he was forced to retire with only 20 laps to go. His team reported back: “No gearbox, switch off the engine. There is fire, jump on left-hand side.”

Sauber’s Adrian Sutil spun out on the final corner of Lap 50 and was forced to retire, his car parked it in the centre of the track, but off the racing line. Marshals were slow to get it off the tar but the pace car was not called out.

On Lap 52 Rosberg was still leading comfortably with Bottas second. Hamilton fought Alonso for third and succeeded. On Lap 63 Hamilton was chasing down Bottas as it started to drizzle on track and made sure he made the podium.

Result from the F1 German GP at Hockenheimring on Sunday
1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1min33:42.914
2 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes +00:20.789
3 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:22.530
4 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - Renault 00:44.014
5 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 00:52.467
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - Renault 00:52.549
7 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 01min04.178
8 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 01min24.711
9 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 1 lap
10 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap
11 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1 lap
12 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Renault 1 lap
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - Renault 1 lap
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap
15 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - Ferrari 1 lap
16 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham - Renault 2 laps
17 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - Ferrari 2 laps

Retired
18 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham - Renault
2 laps Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber - Ferrari
20 laps Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - Renault
23 laps Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Renault
41 laps Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton,1min19.908, lLap 53.

Drivers' points
1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 190
2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 176
3 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 106
4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 97
5 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 91
6 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 82
7 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India 69
8 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 59
9 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 37
10 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams 30
11 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 29
12 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 19
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 9
14 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 8
15 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso 6
16 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 2
17 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber 0
18 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham 0
19 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus 0
20 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 0
21 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia 0
22 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham 0

Constructors' points
1 Mercedes - 366
2 Red Bull - Renault - 188
3 Williams-Mercedes - 121
4 Ferrari - 116
5 Force India - Mercedes - 98
6 McLaren - 96
7 Toro Rosso - Renault - 15
8 Lotus - Renault - 8
9 Marussia - Ferrari - 2
10 Sauber - Ferrari - 0
11 Caterham - Renault - 0
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