Final positions after lap 67 of 67: 1. Hamilton (McLaren) 2. Piquet (Renault) 3. Massa (Ferrari) 4. Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) 5. Kovalainen (McLaren) 6. Raikkonen (Ferrari) 7. Kubica (BMW Sauber) 8. Vettel (Toro Rosso) LATEST ACTION (all times BST) To get involved, text us on 81111 (UK users only) or contribute to 606
Join the debate on 606 1446: "Hamilton has truly earned this win (please dont jinx him!) with some excellent driving despite an awful team decision at the safety car!"
Cogen86 on 606 1442: Hamilton sprays champagne over his podium pals because he is also celebrating moving clear in the world championship. That victory moved him four points ahead of Massa and seven clear of Raikkonen. But it's very much all to play for at the next race in Hungary. Lap 67: That's it. Hamilton takes the chequered flag and his fourth victory of the season in Hockenheim. Team boss Ron Dennis comes on the McLaren radio to say he's sorry he made it more difficult for him but that he wanted him to have the opportunity to drive a great car. Hamilton's response is a wry laugh. A super day for Piquet, who takes his first-ever podium place for Renault. Massa completes the podium line-up with third for Ferrari. I wonder if the team think he might just have done better? Heidfeld is the best of the German drivers as he collects fourth for BMW Sauber ahead of McLaren number two Kovalainen. Raikkonen comes in sixth for Ferrari ahead of BMW Sauber's Kubica in seventh with Toro Rosso's Vettel collecting the final point in eighth. 1433: "Tracking race from St Petersburg to Moscow train - keep going Lewis!"
Anonymous via text Lap 64: Vettel passes Trulli to take eighth place and get into the points. It won't be a bad day for the German drivers on home soil at all. Lap 63: Piquet's policy of a one-stop race looks like it is about to pay off with a podium, which will make a very nice birthday present and ease the pressure on him after a tricky start to his F1 career at Renault. Less happy will be team-mate Alonso, who is down in 11th. Lap 61: In all that excitement, I'm afraid I didn't have the chance to tell you about Coulthard and Barrichello's crash on lap 50. Barrichello squeezed the Scot's Red Bull off the road at the final corner and both headed back to the pits for new noses. Barrichello then returned to the Honda pits for good, making him the third retiree in the race. Ahh I say third because Webber eventually retired his smoke-filled car. Lap 60: Well that didn't take long. Piquet does his best to hold off the McLaren but again leaves enough room at the hairpin to allow Hamilton to nip past for the lead. You have to say that that little spell of overtaking has been pretty exciting - if somewhat inevitable. Lap 58: Hamilton is closing in on Piquet now. He's 1.1 secs behind and all over the back of him. The Renault won't have the pace to hold him off for long. Lap 57: And Hamilton's got Massa and it looked pretty easy too. The two cars touch at the hairpin but Massa gives him too much room and the McLaren driver squeezes past him. The Brazilian fights back but runs into the dirt and that's it; Hamilton is clear and away. Lap 55: Hamilton is closing in on Massa now - he's just 0.6 secs behind now. Massa's job here has to be to keep Hamilton at bay because you have to think that Piquet is easy prey at the front. Lap 53: Heidfeld pits from the lead - which now hands over to Piquet. "This is Nelson's big moment. It's fallen into his lap and he has to make the most of it. Hamilton is closing them both now too."
BBC Radio 5 Live analyst Maurice Hamilton Lap 52: Hamilton overtakes his McLaren team-mate Kovalainen at the hairpin. Hmmm it did look suspiciously like the Finn moved out of his way. Lap 50: Hamilton pits from the lead. The Englishman hasn't done enough though as Heidfeld, Piquet, Massa and his McLaren team-mate Kovalainen all whiz past him. Have McLaren's team tactics cost him the race? Lap 47: Raikkonen has got the bit between his teeth (or a better motorsport related analogy) as he moves his way deftly through the field. First he took care of Alonso, then saw off Vettel and easily overtakes Trulli to move up to seventh. He has got Kubica in his sights now and is just 0.7 secs adrift. Lap 45: The McLaren garage reckon Hamilton has enough fuel on board and that's why they didn't bring him in when the pit opened under safety car conditions. Hamilton is doing a decent job of pulling away. He's 3.8 secs ahead of Heidfeld - who has to pit again - and 10.8 secs ahead of Massa. Lap 43: A great move from Kovalainen sees him squeeze past Kubica for fifth place. Meanwhile, things aren't going very well for Alonso as he has been pushed down to 11th after being overhauled by both Raikkonen and Rosberg. Alonso was desperately trying to run down the Ferrari man but he had to slow coming into the hairpin and that's where Rosberg took him. Lap 42: Piquet is running third for Renault and he should be fuelled until the end of the race. The question is can the Brazilian hold on? His team-mate Alonso is vying with Vettel for eighth place but cannot get past him yet. Lap 41: The safety car has come in and now it's about to get very interesting indeed. Hamilton probably needs to build a lead of around 20 secs before he comes in to the pits again - and that's some ask. Lap 40: The safety car is still out there and this could be tricky for Hamilton. His lead has been totally erased and he needs to build it up again before he comes back into the pits for the second time. Because he's still on the hard tyres, maybe he didn't want to have to do a long stint on the softs. Lap 39: Hamilton is still out there. Glock's car is being removed now, and Webber looks like his engine is in trouble as there is plenty of smoke pluming behind his Red Bull. Lap 38: The pit lane is open but the safety car stays out. A bit of chaos in the pits as Massa, Raikkonen, Kovalainen and Kubica and pretty much everyone comes in but Hamilton is staying out there. Why? Lap 37: Glock has emerged from his car but he looks very winded as he leans against the fence. It also looks like he has hurt his back too. "He was accelerating through the corner normally and suddenly the car snapped out of control."
BBC Radio 5 Live analyst Maurice Hamilton Lap 36: CRASH! It all goes wrong for Glock as his rear suspension spectacularly breaks coming into the pit straight. The Toyota driver was doing so well before he runs onto the curb, onto the grass and skids across the track into the opposite concrete wall. Lap 34: Alonso gets the hurry up from his Renault team as he trundles away in ninth place. The double world champion is stuck behind Toyota's Glock with a gap of 0.9 secs. Lap 31: Shall we hoist a Brit up arrow? After all, race leader Hamilton has pulled clear of Massa by 11 seconds now. His title rival is running steadily in second, 6.9 secs ahead of Kovalainen in the second McLaren. Kubica is ticking over in fourth for BMW Sauber, still profiting from his overtaking antics on the very first lap. Raikkonen benefited from the first round of pit-stops as he runs along in fifth ahead of Trulli. Lap 29: Glock comes in at last and he rejoins in seventh ahead of Alonso and Webber. So it looks like the tactic of staying out longer might well have worked if he wants to get in the points again. Lap 28: Heidfeld comes back to the BMW Sauber pits for fuel and Glock shouldn't be hanging around on the track too much longer without coming back in. By the way, Heidfeld has only one a single point at his home Grand Prix and so will be looking for more today. Lap 23: Webber returns for Red Bull for a glug of fuel and new tyres. He was in third place and comes back in just behind Alonso. So amongst the front runners, Glock hasn't pitted yet and neither has Heidfeld. Trulli didn't fare too well after the first round of pit-stops as he is down in eighth place. Lap 22: Raikkonen also opts for the soft tyres as he returns to the pits. Kovalainen is having to defend from Heidfield on his return to the track. Lap 21: Kovalainen pits which puts his team-mate Hamilton back in the lead. Kovalainen returns to the track in eighth place. Lap 20: Massa pits from the lead as the pits are well and truly under way. The Ferrari man takes on soft tyres so is probably going for a shorter run. Lap 19: Trulli tried to have a little battle with Hamilton but in the end he gave up as he returns to the pits while Alonso returns to Renault for fuel and tyres. Lap 18: Hamilton into the pits and he's in and out in nine seconds. Looks likes he's fuelled up for a long middle stint. He feeds back in in fourth place behind Trulli as Kubica also pits. Lap 15: We have entered a period of calm as Hamilton extends his lead at the front of the field to almost 10 secs. The first pit-stops should be coming along in the next two or three laps though. By the way, Raikkonen cannot make any impression on Trulli in fifth at all, he's 2.1 secs adrift now. Lap 13: Coulthard squeezes past Button for P12 at Turn Two and the Honda driver is now coming under pressure from a predatory Rosberg in his Williams. My Radio 5 Live colleague ominously reports looming black clouds but the track stays dry for now. Lap 10: Hamilton is looking very, very comfortable indeed as he sets another fastest lap of 1:16.078. 1318:: "If the race goes without mistakes/accidents, there is no way Hamilton will not win this race. He is on top of the game."
Anonymous via text Lap nine: As Hamilton streaks away at the front, his compatriot Button is holding up traffic down in 13th place. Coulthard is trying desperately to pass the Honda man while Rosberg is getting frustrated behind the Scot. Barrichello, in the second Honda also appears to be holding up Nakajima and Piquet too in P16. Lap six: Hamilton increases his lead by another half a second over Massa and he's 4.6 secs ahead now. There are reports of a slight problem for Kubica in his fourth-placed BMW Sauber - no further news on that though yet. Lap three: Alonso tries an ambitious passing move on Trulli for fifth at Turn One. But he's too tight on the inside and it proves costly when he doesn't manage to pull it off because Raikkonen overtakes him at Turn Three. Lap two: Here comes the Brit down arrow as the worst starter of the race was David Coulthard. He went down from 10th to 15th for Red Bull on the first lap. Lap one: Hamilton maintains the lead and pulls away on the first lap as Massa cannot make a move on the McLaren man. Robert Kubica makes a brilliant start for BMW Sauber into Turn One and he eventually moves up from seventh into fourth, passing Alonso and Trulli. Sebastian Vettel passes Mark Webber for eighth place. 1303: Green lights are go. 1300: The top drivers are on the formation lap warming up their tyres. Looks like McLaren and Ferrari are on the harder tyres with the Red Bulls, BMW Saubers and Toyotas on the soft options. 1258: The wheel covers are coming off in Germany but let's just quickly get some thoughts from BBC Radio 5 Live's Maurice Hamilton about the state of the title race: "It's not like in Michael Schumacher's day when one driver is going to run away with it. Both Ferrari and McLaren have both made mistakes in strategy. Hamilton and Massa are both under pressure to win the title for the first time so Kimi Raikkonen you think should be the guy - but he's all over the place. If Raikkonen is on form he should cope with it better than anybody."
BBC Radio 5 Live analyst Maurice Hamilton 1254: "I think Hamilton will win. He's at the front of the grid, and with Kimi so far back it's going to be a straight race between him and Massa."
RocketRover on 606 1250: Apparently, there's been lots of questions in Germany about Raikkonen's poor form this weekend. But the unflappable Finn Raikkonen is staying ice cool despite finding himself in sixth place on the grid after struggling with the car's set-up in Germany. He's not had the best of luck at Hockenheim to be fair, in six races he's only finished in the points once, taking third for McLaren in 2006. But Raikkonen, who won the title by a single point last year, isn't panicking about losing ground in the title race just yet. He says: "If you look at a year ago, I was in a worse position than right now so I'm pretty happy. Even when we have had bad races this year I have not been too worried about it because you can see how quickly it changes." 1247: "I'm being dragged off to a baby's birthday party and acting more petulant than Massa when he's not leading. This is going to be a great race and I can't watch it...!"
Paul via text (I trust you've provided Renault-style birthday cake, Paul) 1245: The drivers are on the grid ready to settle in their cars and Renault duo Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet seem to have fuelled themselves with a slice of chocolate cake. Renault boss Flavio Briatore presented his drivers with a cake as both of them celebrate their birthdays in the next nine days. They even blew out candles together, bless. 1238: "I'm following the live updates from my desk in Tel Aviv. We just need another polished performance from Lewis today and that'll be the gauntlet thrown down for the rest of the season."
Maccabi Goldstar on 606 1232: Time for a celebrity watch in Germany. Well, throwing his weight about in the paddock is WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschoko. And it wouldn't be a German Grand Prix without the Schumacher brothers, and former F1 drivers Michael and Ralf are milling around. Mika Hakkinen, the last McLaren driver to win at the circuit in 1998, has also been spotted. 1225: At the circuit the cars are being wheeled onto the grid while the drivers are having their last briefings, handshakes and back slaps in the paddock. I must say Hamilton is looking very relaxed with plenty of big smiles. 1220: The team head honchos gathered at the Williams motor home last night to discuss ways to cut costs and make the sport greener, just as they did two weeks ago in Silverstone. FIA chief Max Mosley has asked the teams to cut fuel consumption in half by 2015. The teams and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone were also chatting about a new set of technical regulations. There'll be another meeting in two weeks at Ferrari HQ in Maranello. 1212: "It will be a very close race should the the rain come a bit later in the race. Kimi can do no better than P3 if everything runs smoothly. Enjoy the race people!"
Christeastlondon on 606 1207: OK, let's take a look at those skies. My 5 Live colleagues in Germany report sunshine with lots of clouds floating around - but there are reports of rain within the next hour or so, which means the teams could again face some tricky decisions on tyres. 1200: Come rain or shine, Lewis Hamilton is looking to open up a clear lead in the title race at Hockenheim. At the halfway point in the season the McLaren driver is locked on 48 points with Ferrari rivals Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. But Hamilton got himself ahead of his rivals by blitzing a third pole of the season for the German Grand Prix. He lines up on the front row alongside Massa, with Raikkonen way back in sixth alongside Renault's Fernando Alonso on the third row of the grid. McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen starts on the second row with Toyota's one-lap speed merchant Jarno Trulli, who celebrated his 34th birthday this time last week. The weather forecast for the German Grand Prix is changeable. Hamilton proved his mastery of the wet at Silverstone last week and whatever the weather it looks like this is his race to lose. But how do you see the race going? I want you to get involved as much as possible via 606 or text on 81111. Join the debate on 606
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Report: BBC Radio 5 Live's David Croft
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