Germany – Race: Sebastian Vettel Triumphant on Home Soil

As the Saturday afternoon heat had already troubled some drivers, the temperature increased even further for the race. Tire management will thus be even more crucial, as the race was already expected to be dominated by strategy.

At the start, Lewis Hamilton is directly overtaken by both Red Bull drivers, while Felipe Massa manages to eliminate Daniel Ricciardo. No issues to report, the drivers have been cautious. A great start by Sergio Pérez who even manages to overtake Jenson Button at the beginning of the second lap for ninth place.

In the fourth lap, Felipe Massa is forced to retire. The Ferrari driver spun at the first corner while alone and will not restart. Likely a mechanical failure, while Romain Grosjean complains of too much front end. First pit stop for Paul di Resta on the fifth lap, who nearly collides with Jean-Eric Vergne, the Frenchman trying to avoid traffic. The first wave of pit stops is well underway very early in this Grand Prix. And the first driver from the leading pack to stop is Lewis Hamilton, who, as expected, returns on medium tires. The English driver comes out behind Nico Rosberg. And the race leader also stops, with the Red Bull mechanics executing a lightning-fast stop, allowing the triple world champion to come back out just ahead of Nico Rosberg on the seventh lap. The German is followed by Mark Webber, but there’s a big problem with the Australian’s stop. The right rear tire is stuck, and by the time the mechanics finally manage to change it, Mark Webber is released by his team and loses his wheel, which bounces around the pit lane before hitting a cameraman quite violently, who seems to get back up. The Australian loses a lot, while Kimi Räikkönen also stops. The Finn comes out between the two Mercedes but is overtaken by Lewis Hamilton.

In the tenth lap, Mark Webber is sent back on track with a lap down, his four tires properly fixed this time. Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean leads a few laps, setting the fastest lap in the race, even as the Frenchman complains about the balance of his car. Further back in the pack, Mercedes indirectly asks Nico Rosberg to let Lewis Hamilton pass, since the two men are on completely different strategies. This all works to Romain Grosjean’s advantage, as he doesn’t have to deal with traffic. Nico Rosberg decides not to comply, focusing on his own race and giving no space to his teammate. This allows Romain Grosjean to emerge in third place, well ahead of his teammate who is stuck behind the Rosberg-Hamilton bottleneck. Fernando Alonso also stops, surprisingly early with the medium tires.

On the fifteenth lap, Romain Grosjean managed to overtake Jenson Button for second place, while Lewis Hamilton, followed by Kimi Räikkönen, passed Nico Rosberg. Lotus, then Red Bull confirmed the good form of the French driver, indeed, Sebastian Vettel is asked to attack. Nico Rosberg dives into the pits to change his tires. In third and fourth places are Jenson Button and Nico Hülkenberg, with the latter diving into the pits to change his medium tires. There’s also a great battle between Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen for the virtual third place. The Mercedes driver complains about a lack of grip, and the Finn overtakes him, helped by his DRS. And it’s Fernando Alonso who comes back like a cannonball on the Mercedes, which continues to drop in the standings.

On the twenty-first lap, Fernando Alonso continues to attack Lewis Hamilton as best as he can, but it’s not enough for the moment. However, the 2008 world champion is experiencing significant problems with his tires, which are worsening as he defends his position. Meanwhile, Jenson Button makes his first pit stop, completing a much longer stint on medium tires than the one Ferraris did. With his tires deteriorating too much, Lewis Hamilton heads to the pits to change them, much to the delight of Fernando Alonso. Jules Bianchi is forced to retire, his car releasing a white cloud, likely an engine failure. The problem hinders Romain Grosjean, who was just behind his fellow countryman, and this triggers the deployment of the safety car! The Marussia began to catch fire before stopping, and even started rolling backward as the car was on an uphill slope and in neutral.

On the twenty-fifth lap, Jean-Eric Vergne also retires due to a hydraulic problem, while the pits are swarmed to change tires taking advantage of the safety car. This will allow delayed drivers to reclaim their lap, like Mark Webber. At this point, the provisional podium consists of Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, and Kimi Räikkönen. A possible exciting battle is anticipated between these three men and Fernando Alonso, if team orders do not come into play.

Mid-race, the race is reignited! Sebastian Vettel gets a very good start, which allows him not to be threatened by Romain Grosjean, who is slightly threatened by his teammate. The German wants to quickly widen the gap, but neither of the Lotus drivers wishes to let that happen; both are on the attack. And at the moment when the DRS is authorized again by the stewards, the gap is just above a second between the top two drivers. But Kimi Räikkönen is less than a second behind the Frenchman, which allows him to close in with the help of the two DRS zones on this circuit. His teammate clings on and gains time on his two rivals for the podium. The two Lotus drivers are right on the tail of the cars in front of them, Romain Grosjean, then Kimi Räikkönen setting the fastest times one after the other. Further down the field, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber are blocked by the two Sauber drivers, hindering their progress.

On the thirty-eighth lap, Nico Hülkenberg clears the track for Lewis Hamilton, as the Sauber driver decides to change tires, while Charles Pic suffers a puncture. The leading trio is still engaged in a fierce battle, as all three drivers stopped on the same lap. But it’s impossible to know if any of the three is managing their tires for the end of the race, especially since the Mercedes drivers are forced to save fuel with twenty laps remaining. And Romain Grosjean darts into the pit lane! The Frenchman emerges ahead of Sergio Pérez with a clear track, allowing him to attack as much as possible. It remains to be seen if this will allow the Lotus driver to pass Sebastian Vettel in the pit stop game. And the German mirrors Lotus’ strategy to change his tires as well. The reigning triple world champion emerges just ahead of his rival of the day, while Kimi Räikkönen is still on track.

In the forty-fourth lap, Sebastian Vettel and Romain Grosjean began their comeback, and the first target is called Lewis Hamilton. On the German’s radio, he’s told that he needs to quickly overtake all the drivers in front of him to avoid losing the race to Kimi Räikkönen, who remains on worn tires. The Red Bull driver understands the message and passes the Englishman in the early corners of the next lap. He is quickly followed by the Frenchman as Lewis Hamilton changes tires. The two drivers also gain a position during Jenson Button’s pit stop, and Fernando Alonso is the last obstacle between them and Kimi Räikkönen. However, the Ferrari driver still needs to switch to the softest tires, which will allow him to have a very aggressive end to the race.

On the fiftieth lap, there’s a surprise as Kimi Räikkönen enters the pits, quickly followed by Fernando Alonso who misses the first corner. A big fight is expected, with Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Kimi Räikkönen, and Fernando Alonso all within seven seconds; the latter two are on new soft tires, while the former two are on worn mediums. Lewis Hamilton puts on a show as well on fresh tires, aiming for seventh place. A new battle unfolds between the McLaren drivers for fifth place, which ends in favor of Jenson Button.

On the fifty-third lap, the instruction was given to Romain Grosjean to let Kimi Räikkönen pass, as he was faster thanks to the advantage of his soft tires. The Finnish driver even had the pace to contend for the win. But Fernando Alonso was also very, very fast and was closing in on the three men who had to overtake backmarkers. Further back in the pack, Nico Rosberg executed a nice double overtake on Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas to take tenth place.

As the final five laps begin, Lotus subtly reminds Romain Grosjean of the team orders, and this time, he clearly lifts off on the straight, allowing Kimi Räikkönen to give chase. The Frenchman now has to watch out for Fernando Alonso, who is also on soft tires. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, overtakes Sergio Pérez for 6th place, a meager result for the weekend’s pole-sitter.

With the lap times of the top four drivers, it seems that the podium standings will be decided in the final lap, which adds enormous pressure to each of them.

In the second-to-last lap, Kimi Räikkönen catches up with Sebastian Vettel, while Romain Grosjean successfully defends himself as best he can against Fernando Alonso.

In the final lap, Lewis Hamilton overtakes Jenson Button in the early corners to reclaim fifth place, while Sebastian Vettel is under direct pressure from Kimi Räikkönen, who is in the DRS zone but fortunately too far for the German.

The reigning three-time world champion finally wins on home soil, marking his first victory in Europe since 2011! He finishes ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean on the podium. Fernando Alonso comes to a stop just after the finish line, likely to conserve fuel after securing fourth place. Big disappointment for Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position but only finishes in fifth place.

Result of the 2013 German Grand Prix Formula 1: