F1 News
German GP - Sunday Summary: Max wins, Leclerc crashes, Williams score!
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Sunday at the Hockenheimring meant one thing: raceday! We had one of the craziest Grands Prix in recent memory, in which Max Verstappen took the flag while both Charles Leclerc and Valtteri Bottas crashed out. Oh yeah, and Williams scored their first point of the season!
The German Grand Prix
In an afternoon that would be defined by its spins, crashes and Safety Cars, Sergio Pérez got us underway on the second lap. The Mexican was a passenger as his Racing Point started aquaplaning before slamming into the wall.
Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris both suffered mechanical retirements because of their Renault engines. Then, Leclerc lost control on lap 27 and made it two years running of Ferraris crashing out at the Hockenheimring. His teammate Sebastian Vettel, who started from last place, had made his way into the points at that point.
Vettel continued his charge after the Safety Cars kept coming, with Nico Hülkenberg, who was in P2, crashing out, and Bottas also totalling his W10 in the latter stages of the race. Lewis Hamilton was also out of the equation at that point because of a heavy crash that cost him his front wing as well as a spin, so the podium places were up for grabs.
Sebastian Vettel sped to P2 from P20, and the final podium place went to Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who also became a father on Saturday! They joined race winner Verstappen on the podium, with the Dutchman making it two wins in three.
Alfa penalised post-race, Williams get first point
After the race, in which Alfa Romeo Racing had their two cars finish seventh and eighth, the FIA gave both cars a 30-second penalty for breaking the rules. The Italian team had their clutch set up in an illegal fashion, giving them more traction at the start of the race.
The ripple effect was that Williams driver Robert Kubica moved from P12 into P10 and therefore scored his first point since his comeback to F1. Lewis Hamilton also moved up to P9, giving him two points.
Hamilton spins and gets hit with penalty
Just a lap after Leclerc had ended his race at turn 16 of the Hockenheimring, Hamilton went off at exactly the same place. The Brit did well to not total his W10 but he had lost his front wing, causing him to head straight into the pitlane from the gravel.
Because of the angle he was at, he couldn't go past the right side of the bollard, however, meaning he got a five-second penalty on top of all the time he had lost by spinning and during the pitstop itself, which lasted 50 seconds.
Hamilton eventually finished in P11, but was bumped up o P9 after the Alfas' penalties.