Scorching heat had turned into "normal German summer weather", as there were only 28 degrees Celsius, as the qualifying got underway at Hockenheim Ring. And what a dramatic qualifying it turned out! Hot temperature anticipated trouble for Mercedes, but it was a whole different team, that was in trouble! As soon as Sebastian had come out in Q1, he reported on the team radio, that he was lacking power. He had to return to the pits, where the mechanics proved unable to fix the turbo-related issue. Sebastian was out of the qualifying, with no time set. What a catastrophe for the home hero! P20 on the grid meant, that "the curse of the home race" was still strong.
Hamilton set the pace in the second session, but Charles in his SF90 was only a tenth down. Both had set their lap times on the medium rubber, as had Bottas in third. Verstappen was also sent out on the more durable rubber, but the Dutchman hit trouble on his first flyer. He was hit with an engine map issue, which forced him to return to the pits, with no time set. The Red Bull team managed to fix the issue in time, and Verstappen came out at the end of the session. However, he had to opt for the red-marked soft compound. Charles had shown superb pace throughout the weekend, and the young Monegasque seemed to be a strong contender to challenge the Mercedes duo for pole. But there was something worrying happening in Charles' pit box, as the last segment got underway... A handful of mechanics were working on the right side of Charles' car, which indicated problems. There was a fuel system failure in the car, which ended the qualifying for Charles as well! Both red cars were out of the qualifying due to two different technical failures. This was absolutely unforgivable! Hamilton had it easy to lay his hands on the provisional pole, with Verstappen second and Bottas third. The second runs didn't change the order of the top three. Gasly qualified fourth for Red Bull, and Kimi made it stunning fifth for Alfa Romeo Racing, leaving Haas' Grosjean sixth. This would have been Ferrari's chance to conquer pole, as Mercedes were struggling due to the hot conditions! But the Red Team threw their chances out of the window!
Once again the conditions had changed, as the race day dawned. It was raining at Hockenheim Ring, and the temperature had dropped down to 20 degrees Celsius. The cars lined up for the formation lap behind the safety car. Several formation laps were driven, and all drivers had the blue-walled full-wets on. However, there was a standing start. As usual, Hamilton took a flawless start, maintaining his lead. Verstappen, on the other hand, got a poor start, and the Dutchman lost two positions right away. Bottas stormed to second, so once again the Mercedes duo had a double lead in the race. The most stunning start was taken by Kimi, as the Iceman made his way from P5 to P3. Verstappen was now fourth in the race. To Kimi's disappointment, he went wide on the second lap, which enabled Verstappen to snatch P3 from the Iceman.
The first safety car episode (of many to come) took place already on lap 3, as Racing Point's Perez crashed out. In spite of slippery conditions, all drivers pitted for the intermediate Pirellis. After the re-start, the Mercedes drivers were still in the double lead. Verstappen was third and Leclerc fourth. The young Ferrari ace had made an excellent job, having climbed from P10 up to P4 already. The track conditions had improved to an extent, that DRS was enabled. Haas' Magnussen was the first driver to pit for slicks. Ferrari reacted right away and called Sebastian in. The German opted for the soft compound, on the contrary to Verstappen, who re-joined the track on a fresh set of medium Pirellis. It turned out difficult for Max to keep his RB15 between the white lines. The Dutchman had his moment of scare, as he had a wild-looking 360-degree spin, but luckily he didn't hit anything. Both Leclerc and Hamilton pitted for the softs as well.
The incident on lap 30 brought out the safety car for the second time. This time unfortunately, there was Charles in the limelight of the drama. This was the very first wet race in Formula 1 for the Monegasque, and the slippery conditions caught him by surprise. Charles lost control of his SF90 in the second last corner, ending up in the barrier! What a bitter moment for Charles, who had made such an excellent job by that time! However, he wasn't the only casualty in that corner on that lap. Also Hamilton lost control of his W10 and hit the barrier, which caused him a front wing damage. The Briton entered the pits at the wrong side of the bollard, which was just a start for a chain of setbacks. Hamilton's tyres weren't ready, and his pit stop took massive 50 seconds! His race had just turned into a nightmare. Some laps later he was also given a 5-second time penalty for entering the pits at the wrong side of the bollard.
As the track conditions had worsened, all drivers pitted to get the intermediates back on. This made the pecking order look utterly interesting. Verstappen was now leading the race, with Renault's Hulkenberg second and Bottas third. Toro Rosso's Albon was a sensational fourth, and Sebastian was now in P8. But there was still more drama to come...
The second last corner claimed another casualty on lap 40, as Hulkenberg crashed out. This brought out the safety car for the third time already! Verstappen pitted from the lead, and managed to maintain his lead just barely. Also Sebastian pitted for a fresh set of intermediate tyres. However, shortly after the re-start, it was time for a new pit stop roulette; the switch back to slicks. This mixed up the pecking order in a very interesting way. The lion-hearted Dutchman was leading the race, which was well-deserved. But who would have predicted to see Racing Point's Stroll in P2 and Toro Rosso's Kvyat in P3? What a plot twist indeed! Sebastian was in modest P9 at this point.
And the crazy race continued. On lap 53 it was Hamilton's turn to go off in the second last corner! To the Briton's relief, he managed to avoid hitting anything. On the contrary to his teammate Bottas, who made almost an identical mistake in the very same corner a few laps later! The Finn crashed out, ending up into the barrier. And the safety car was deployed -for the fourth time! The crash was bad news for Bottas, as it would have been vital for him to score all possible points, as Hamilton seemed to miss out on the points.
After the re-start there were five laps to go. Flying Verstappen was definitely going for the victory. Sebastian was in P5, but had decided to open up an overtaking show. His first victim was McLaren's Sainz, whom he also managed to pass in style. Then he had all eyes on Stroll, whom he attacked next. Sebastian made a successful move, claiming P3 already. After that he smelled Kvyat's blood, aiming for P2. With self-confidence Sebastian passed the Russian "Torpedo", making it up to P2 already. What a sensational rise Sebastian had made, climbing from P20 to P2! The "good old Seb" was definitely back!
Phenomenal Max took his 7th career win, also scoring the extra point for the fastest lap time. It was absolutely heart-warming to see Sebastian on the podium in front of his home crowd. Worth mentioning is definitely Kvyat's performance, which brought a podium finish! Stroll's P4 was also an impressive result. The Alfa Romeo duo finished 7th and 8th (with Kimi having the upper hand), but they were both excluded from the result due to a clutch infringement. So Hamilton did end up in the points after all, scoring two points in P9. Kubica managed to score the first point of the year for Williams.
I'm looking forward to Sebastian keeping up the momentum this week in Hungary! I'll be there supporting him and the Red Team! I can't wait to see all the hot F1 action live! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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