Intense pressure from Lotus' Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean wasn't going to stop Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) from finally winning his home Grand Prix.
The German, born 200 kilometres from where the race was hosted this year, at the Nürburgring, had a cracking start from second, which allowed him to swiftly dispose of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
Vettel then enjoyed a clean run, until Räikkönen and Grosjean caught up that is, because his teammate Mark Webber, who had moved from third to second at the start, dropped down the order already at the first pit stops.
He was released from his box before the right rear wheel was properly attached.
The bouncing wheel rolled away and sent a cameraman to hospital with some broken bones, but seemed to avoid everyone else.
A clever strategy gave Lotus the edge in speed, but Vettel appeared simply too strong for either Raikkonen or Grosjean, who took turn fighting the world champion, to make a win out of it.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso salvaged fourth, having started eight on the grid. The Spaniard finished one place ahead of the ailing Hamilton, who still faired better than his poor teammate Nico Rosberg.
The recent British Grand Prix winner went up from a distant 11th on the grid to a lowly ninth.
Jules Bianchi (Marussia) beat Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso) to the most spectacular retirement. The Frenchman went out in a cloud of smoke whereas Massa only spun out, and Vergne merely suffered a hydraulic failure.
Race results* – German Grand Prix (Nürburgring)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) – 60 laps 1:41'14"711
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1"008
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 5"830
4 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) – 7”721
5 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 26"927
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 27"996
7 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 37"562
8 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 38"306
9 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 46"821
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 49"898
11 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 53"771
12 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 56"975
13 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 57"738
14 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'0"160
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'01"929
16 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) – 1 lap
17 – Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) – 1 lap
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) – 1 lap
19 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) – 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1’33”468 by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
Retirements
lap 22 - Jean-Eric Vergne
Lap 21 – Jules Bianchi
Lap 3 - Felipe Massa
Drivers' championship
1. Vettel 157; 2. Alonso 123; 3. Raikkonen 116; 4.Hamilton 99; 5. Webber 93; 6. Rosberg 84; 7. Massa 57; 8. Grosjean 41; 9. Di Resta 36; 10. Button 33; 11. Sutil 23; 12. Perez 16; 13. Vergne 13; 14. Ricciardo 11; 15.Hulkenberg 7
*Unofficial results
The German, born 200 kilometres from where the race was hosted this year, at the Nürburgring, had a cracking start from second, which allowed him to swiftly dispose of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
Vettel then enjoyed a clean run, until Räikkönen and Grosjean caught up that is, because his teammate Mark Webber, who had moved from third to second at the start, dropped down the order already at the first pit stops.
He was released from his box before the right rear wheel was properly attached.
The bouncing wheel rolled away and sent a cameraman to hospital with some broken bones, but seemed to avoid everyone else.
A clever strategy gave Lotus the edge in speed, but Vettel appeared simply too strong for either Raikkonen or Grosjean, who took turn fighting the world champion, to make a win out of it.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso salvaged fourth, having started eight on the grid. The Spaniard finished one place ahead of the ailing Hamilton, who still faired better than his poor teammate Nico Rosberg.
The recent British Grand Prix winner went up from a distant 11th on the grid to a lowly ninth.
Jules Bianchi (Marussia) beat Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Jean-Éric Vergne (Toro Rosso) to the most spectacular retirement. The Frenchman went out in a cloud of smoke whereas Massa only spun out, and Vergne merely suffered a hydraulic failure.
Race results* – German Grand Prix (Nürburgring)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) – 60 laps 1:41'14"711
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1"008
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 5"830
4 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) – 7”721
5 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 26"927
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 27"996
7 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 37"562
8 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 38"306
9 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 46"821
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 49"898
11 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 53"771
12 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 56"975
13 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 57"738
14 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'0"160
15 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'01"929
16 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) – 1 lap
17 – Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) – 1 lap
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) – 1 lap
19 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) – 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1’33”468 by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
Retirements
lap 22 - Jean-Eric Vergne
Lap 21 – Jules Bianchi
Lap 3 - Felipe Massa
Drivers' championship
1. Vettel 157; 2. Alonso 123; 3. Raikkonen 116; 4.Hamilton 99; 5. Webber 93; 6. Rosberg 84; 7. Massa 57; 8. Grosjean 41; 9. Di Resta 36; 10. Button 33; 11. Sutil 23; 12. Perez 16; 13. Vergne 13; 14. Ricciardo 11; 15.Hulkenberg 7
*Unofficial results