As it happened: 2011 Germany - The Race

• 12:00

  Hello and welcome to the Factbyte Factbox - it's the German Grand Prix!

• 12:02

  All reports are pointing towards a wet race, but anything can happen in the next hour, the sun might come out.

• 12:03

  Mercedes have been making the most of their time at the Nürburgring, allowing Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg out in Ye Olde Racecars. Nice picture here: https://sidepodcast.com/f1-big-picture/rings-and-arrows

• 12:04

  Today, David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen were allowed behind the wheel of the cars, and guess what? DC spun it!

• 12:04

  Tweet from @OfficialMGP: Just had a very contrite David Coulthard in the office after spinning our priceless W196 car on a parade lap and nearly taking out Mika!

• 12:04

  Nothing changes!

• 12:05

  Sebastian Vettel missed out on pole position, with Mark Webber taking top honours in qualifying yesterday.

• 12:05

  Lewis Hamilton lines up on the grid next to him, meaning Vettel is off the front row for the first time this season.

• 12:06

  If you missed any of the action, I have a 60 second qualifying roundup for you: https://sidepodcast.com/news/mark-webber-takes-pole-position-for-the-german-grand-prix or relive the action with the FBFB highlights: https://sidepodcast.com/post/germany-2011-qualifying-highlights

• 12:07

  Sébastian Buemi was excluded from the qualifying results yesterday, after the FIA stewards found some irregularity in the post-session fuel sample.

• 12:08

  The Toro Rosso driver will be at the back of the grid, or the pitlane, depending on what the team decide.

• 12:08

  Tweet from @clubforce: Everybody thinks this will be an exciting race. It's spitting with rain, but the track is relatively dry. Just under an hour until the off.

• 12:09

  If you're watching the race live, why not join in the comments over on Sidepodcast? https://sidepodcast.com/dashboard - Twitter, FBFB and great conversation all in one place, what's not to like?

• 12:10

  Or, if you visit the thread directly, you can vote in the poll - make sure you do! https://sidepodcast.com/post/live-germany-2011-the-race Will Webber lead any laps today?

• 12:10

  Circuit Data

  Nürburgring
  Local timezone	+0200 GMT
  First race	1951
  Number of laps	60
  Circuit length	5.148km
  Race distance	308.641km
  Start offset	0.239km

• 12:13

  Whilst the front of the grid is no real surprise, further back there were upsets in qualifying. Kamui Kobayashi could not make it out of Q1, whilst Nick Heidfeld just missed out on the top ten.

• 12:14

  Qualifying Position

  1	Mark Webber	Red Bull
  2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
  3	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull
  4	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
  5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
  6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
  7	Jenson Button	McLaren
  8	Adrian Sutil	Force India
  9	Vitaly Petrov	Renault
  10	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes

• 12:14

  The grid girls are struggling with the windy conditions out there.

• 12:18

  Interview with Martin Whitmarsh: "It's clear that in terms of slow speed corners, the car is strong. I think we've lacked a bit in high speed corners compared to our friends at Red Bull. But we've been working on that... I think you saw Lewis yesterday build that confidence and I think JB will during this race as well.

  "We can clearly win the race, but we can also get it horribly wrong. That's the issue with these conditions. We're not complaining about these... but hopefully we can get it right. There is a weather front here, so it is going to be wet at some points during this race. I suspect it's going to be damp for most of it. Whether they get onto the option tyres, I don't know, but I think we'll start on the intermediates."

• 12:19

  Interview with Timo Glock: "I just made it official today, my home Grand Prix, that I'm staying with my team for the next few years, working on the big project towards Sochi. I had a bit of a funny weekend with my engineers and I just said as a joke: "You're making my life difficult." It was no problem against the team or the car. We had a difficult qualifying, and I just made a joke to my engineer."

• 12:20

  More from Timo: "The main problem will be the temperatures, to get the tyres working. Let's see what we can do, and hope for a good race."

• 12:21

  Karun Chandhok is in the car for Lotus this weekend, taking over duties from Jarno Trulli. He spun in FP3, but qualified 21st (which becomes 20th thanks to Buemi).

• 12:23

  Lap Data

  (data from Williams F1)
  Fuel consumption	2.6kg/lap
  Fuel laptime penalty	0.3s/10kg
  Top speed	306kph
  Average speed	202kph
  Pit lane loss	18s
  Pit lane length	377m

• 12:24

  A quick look at the gap between pole position and the rest of the first two rows.

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	WEB	1:30.079
  2nd	HAM	+0.055
  3rd	VET	+0.137
  4th	ALO	+0.363

• 12:27

  Interview with Stefano Domenicali: "I think we have fourth on the grid with Fernando, fifth with Felipe. The conditions on the grid are tricky, we don't love too much this kind of temperature. We've seen at Silverstone when there was difficult conditions at the beginning, McLaren were very, very fast. Here it seems that another shower should come, we will see. It will be around two o'clock as always."

• 12:27

  Tweet from @clubforce: Engine fire-ups going on up and down the pit lane. 5 mins till we go to the grid. Umbrellas at the ready!

• 12:28

  Fernando Alonso climbs into his car and gets settled in, with just a couple of minutes left until the pitlane opens.

• 12:30

  The pitlane opens, engines roar, and cars start to pile out to make their way towards the grid.

• 12:32

  A BBC segment with Mark Webber sees him say that he's normally so relaxed on the grid he could sing songs. I wonder what's top of his internal playlist.

• 12:34

  2011 Race Wins

  Pos	Driver	Total
  1	Sebastian Vettel	6
  2	Lewis Hamilton	1
  3	Jenson Button	1
  4	Fernando Alonso	1

• 12:34

  Tweet from @elephino: @factbytefactbox today Webber will likely be singing 'here comes the rain again'

• 12:36

  The cars are streaming out the pitlane now. Heidfeld makes his way round the circuit, celebrating his home race with a new fan-designed helmet.

• 12:36

  Nico Rosberg remains in the garage, tyre warmers on, the mechanics making some last minute checks to the car.

• 12:36

  Some links you might need - live timing: http://www.formula1.com/live_timing/

• 12:37

  Autosport's fabulous live text: http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/380

• 12:37

  The BBC's live text and stream (if you're in the UK) - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9546351.stm

• 12:38

  McLaren and Mercedes both have live data on their sites: http://mclaren.com/formula1 and http://www.mercedes-gp.com/

• 12:42

  Interview with Chandhok on the grid: "It's just started now, on the reconnaissance lap. Still slicks though, but there's no temperature out there. I would have liked a nice clean dry race, just to get me back into it. I've never done a long run on the Pirellis, the most I've done is ten laps."

• 12:43

  Timo Glock chats to Martin Brundle on the grid just as it starts to rain: "It's pretty cold out here, I have to say. Tyre are really difficult to get up to temperature, especially with the fuel load. Nurburgring is always something special, we never know. It's starting to rain, I'm going to talk to my engineer know. You have to stay on the track and hope the others make some mistakes."

• 12:44

  Back to Chandhok for a moment, his last race was Silverstone last year, so he'd like to get a good clean race for the experience. He's also used up Trulli's gearbox joker as the team changed the box today.

• 12:45

  Interview with Jaime Alguersuari: "It's very difficult to get front tyre temperature especially because it's very cold and now it's starting to rain. We'll see what we're going to do with the tyres. Today it's a pity because I don't start on the 18th position so maybe it's not racing. I think it's one of those races where you have to stay on the track because it's very difficult. I think it will be for intermediates if it still keeps raining, we will see how the race gets on with the tyres, with the weather, I think it's a nightmare. No one really knows."

• 12:46

  Fifteen minutes to go. F1.com's live timing has cleared the qualifying times ready for the race.

• 12:46

  Rubens Barrichello is sitting in the car, not getting out in this weather! He gives Brundle a thumbs up from the cockpit though.

• 12:48

  Daniel Ricciardo on the grid, via @HRTF1Team.

• 12:51

  Fernando Alonso looks really happy on the grid, bouncing up and down - presumably to stay warm!

• 12:52

  Alonso smiles in conversation with his team.

• 12:53

  Christian Horner, on the grid, suggests that the radar will not be completely reliable, and that they're better off just looking at the clouds. He also says Red Bull have weather spotters littered around the circuit.

• 12:54

  I've closed the poll and 53% say Webber will lead at least one lap this race, whilst 21% think Red Bull will do something to steal it from him. See the full results: https://sidepodcast.com/post/live-germany-2011-the-race

• 12:56

  

  13°C

  Track	15°C
  Humidity	75%
  Wind speed	4.3mps

• 12:57

  The lap record around the track is Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari, back in 2004. He completed a 1:29.468. Pole position yesterday was 1:30.079.

• 13:00

  The cars are away for their formation lap.

• 13:01

  Webber leads the train of cars around the hairpin, with spots of rain visible on the heli-cam.

• 13:01

  All the top ten drivers are starting on the soft tyre.

• 13:02

  Brundle fact: "Only three times in 16 races has the polesitter gone on to win the race here."

• 13:02

  Ron Dennis watches on from the McLaren garage, whilst Mika Hakkinen is tucked away in the Mercedes garage.

• 13:03

  Buemi is starting on the grid, rather than the pitlane.

• 13:03 Lap 1

  Race started.

• 13:03 Lap 1

  Webber was slow off the line, Hamilton got the lead almost instantly.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  Alonso moved up to third, with Vettel hassling him for the position.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  Someone has spun at turn three, but we're not sure who it is yet.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  It looks like Di Resta was the spinner, he's not right at the back of the field.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  Jenson Button has fallen back to 9th place, whilst Rosberg is up to fifth.

• 13:05 Lap 1

  Kobayashi has zipped up to 12th, not sure how he managed that!

• 13:05 Lap 1

  Button has fallen back behind Schumacher now, the McLaren driver sitting in 10th, whilst his teammate leads.

• 13:05 Lap 2

  Heidfeld is also at the back of the field with Di Resta, there may have been contact between the two.

• 13:05 Lap 2

  Alonso ran wide and Vettel has gained third position. Alonso now fourth.

• 13:06 Lap 2

  Schumacher is making his way through the field, he's passed Petrov and now sits 8th.

• 13:07 Lap 3

  Hamilton has pulled out a two second lead already.

• 13:07 Lap 3

  Race Control: DRS enabled.

• 13:07 Lap 3

  One to Watch

  Rosberg	vs.	Massa
  5th	+0.3s	6th

• 13:07 Lap 3

  Replay of the start shows Webber on the throttle but as the lights went out, the revs just dropped and he had no momentum.

• 13:09 Lap 4

  We've just seen a gazillion replays of the start of the race, but still no sign of what happened between Heidfeld and Di Resta.

• 13:09 Lap 4

  Team radio to Massa: "Much quicker than Rosberg, let's get past him as soon as we can, or we'll ruin our race. Let's get past him now."

• 13:10 Lap 4

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver
  1	1	Lewis Hamilton
  2	-1	Mark Webber
  3	0	Sebastian Vettel
  4	0	Fernando Alonso
  5	1	Nico Rosberg

• 13:11 Lap 5

  Further back, Heidfeld is up to 18th, with Di Resta in 20th, Timo Glock tucked up between them.

• 13:12 Lap 6

  Massa makes an attempt on Rosberg, much faster than him, but he can't make the position stick, and cuts the corner. He doesn't get the position in the end.

• 13:12 Lap 6

  Webber sets a new fastest lap - 1:37.659. He's catching Hamilton.

• 13:14 Lap 7

  Commentators suggest that the Di Resta/Heidfeld incident is being investigated.

• 13:14 Lap 7

  Jenson Button is chasing down Petrov for 9th place, the gap varying between three tenths and four tenths apart.

• 13:15 Lap 8

  Fernando Alonso has overtaken Sebastian Vettel for 3rd place - not in the DRS zone at all.

• 13:15 Lap 8

  Meanwhile, his teammate Massa is still stuck behind Rosberg, with Rob Smedley trying to urge him onwards.

• 13:16 Lap 8

  Tweet from @jimmcquad: @sidepodcast kobayashi is looking good already in 11 and more fresh tyres than anyone ahead

• 13:18 Lap 10

  Pérez has pitted from 19th place, after running wide and losing time.

• 13:19 Lap 10

  Vettel hit the white lines and grass, spun off track but continued onwards - he's fallen right into the clutches of Rosberg now.

• 13:19 Lap 10

  As he pulled to a stop, his tyres were smoking, there are bound to be flatspots ahoy on that Red Bull now.

• 13:20 Lap 10

  Vettel spins and makes the most of the tarmac run off.

• 13:20 Lap 11

  Yellow flags as Nick Heidfeld has spun off into the gravel.

• 13:20 Lap 11

  Into the penultimate corner, he went to pass Buemi, they touched wheels, sending the Renault into the air and bouncing off into the gravel. Heidfeld's race over.

• 13:21 Lap 11

  Buemi has pitted with a right rear puncture, and potential for other damage.

• 13:21 Lap 12

  Brundle says Nick Heidfeld had just been given a drive through penalty for the incident with Paul di Resta.

• 13:22 Lap 12

  That's an incident we haven't seen, and an investigation Race Control have not told us about yet. No messages on screen. Helpful.

• 13:22 Lap 12

  Felipe Massa has finally made the position on Rosberg - he locked up into the corner, but forced Nico wide and took the place.

• 13:23 Lap 13

  Into the final turn, Webber took the position from Hamilton, but down the home straight, Lewis got the position back.

• 13:23 Lap 13

  The pair are squabbling for the lead as Alonso closes up for third place. Hamilton retains the lead for now.

• 13:24 Lap 13

  Heidfeld/Buemi collision.

• 13:24 Lap 13

  Team radio from an irritated Hamilton: "Stop talking to me while I'm racing, please."

• 13:25 Lap 14

  Next lap, Webber locks up on the home straight, Alonso almost makes the position but didn't make it. Half a second between Hamilton and Webber, 0.4 between Webber and Alonso.

• 13:26 Lap 14

  Team radio to Alonso: "Tell me about tyres when you can."

  "Tyres soon."

• 13:26 Lap 15

  Red Bull mechanics are hustling into the pitlane.

• 13:26 Lap 15

  Webber comes in for his first stop of the day, from third position.

• 13:27 Lap 15

  Rosberg has also pitted, whilst Webber returns to the track in 6th place, tucked up behind Sutil.

• 13:27 Lap 15

  Jenson Button is stuck down in ninth place, desperately trying to get past Petrov. It's not working for him yet though.

• 13:28 Lap 16

  Comment from Alex Andronov: I do think those Renaults are quite hard to pass somehow

• 13:28 Lap 16

  Schumacher has pitted from 7th place.

• 13:29 Lap 16

  Webber has passed Sutil, a crucial move so that he wasn't held up too long.

• 13:30 Lap 17

  Massa squeezed past Vettel, and Webber also made the move, but Vettel dived into the pitlane.

• 13:30 Lap 17

  Hamilton also pitted, and Fernando Alonso.

• 13:31 Lap 17

  Four drivers in a row, Massa leads the race but he has not yet stopped. Webber next, with Hamilton and Alonso behind. That gives Webber the lead, sort of.

• 13:31 Lap 18

  Felipe Massa has pitted from the lead, giving Webber the lead. The polesitter back in front again.

• 13:32 Lap 18

  Alonso pulls up close behind Hamilton, hoping for second position, but he doesn't get the position... yet.

• 13:32 Lap 18

  Comment from Lou: JENSON OVERTOOK PETROV!

• 13:33 Lap 18

  Vettel has lost track position, now tucked up behind Massa after the pitstops.

• 13:35 Lap 20

  It looks like Barrichello has stopped, the live timing shows him as retired, but we've not seen it on screen.

• 13:35 Lap 20

  Hamilton puts in the fastest lap of the race so far - 1:36.718.

• 13:36 Lap 20

  Massa and Vettel are negotiating Kobayashi for track position, although the Sauber driver has note yet pitted. Both overtake relatively easily.

• 13:36 Lap 20

  Tweet from @OfficialLRGP: Nick's back at the garage, no ills from the incident

• 13:38 Lap 21

  Massa and Vettel are now behind Petrov - if they find it hard to pass him, that might make Button feel better.

• 13:38 Lap 22

  Comment from Fiox: I wonder what the odds are on Fernandez-Lotus beating Williams in the constructors this year one 7th place would do it.

• 13:38 Lap 22

  Massa passes easily... Vettel's turn next.

• 13:38 Lap 22

  Yes, job done. Sorry Button.

• 13:39 Lap 22

  Tweet from @WilliamsF1Team: Rubens race over- called back to garage - oil leak - team still investigating

• 13:40 Lap 23

  Petrov loses another couple of positions, as the Mercedes drivers both get past, and battle each other as well. Rosberg remains ahead.

• 13:41 Lap 24

  Interview with Heidfeld: "Already at the start it wasn't too good, lost a position there when I collided with Paul into turn three. After that, tried hard to make up positions... overtook a couple of cars, then behind Buemi he was blocking me which was fully okay, but then I was next to him and he just moved over and there was nowhere to go. He pushed me onto the grass and it was an accident that couldn't be avoided."

• 13:41 Lap 24

  Brief yellow flags for Schumacher, who spins off and drops back to 11th.

• 13:42 Lap 24

  Petrov finally comes into the pits after losing place after place.

• 13:42 Lap 24

  Alguersuari and Di Resta also pit for the first time.

• 13:42 Lap 24

  Replays show Schumacher's spin was a carbon copy of Vettel's earlier spin. The tarmac runoff saving both drivers.

• 13:43 Lap 25

  Button pits from fifth place, a good clean stop, with all wheels attached this time, and he returns to the track in 8th place.

• 13:44 Lap 26

  Just two drivers have not yet stopps - Kovalainen in 15th, and D'Ambrosio... who pits just as I type.

• 13:45 Lap 26

  Team radio to Vettel: "Sebastian, we might have a problem with the rear brakes. Go forward on bias as soon as you can."

• 13:46 Lap 26

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	0	Webber	1
  2	0	Hamilton	1
  3	1	Alonso	1
  4	1	Massa	1
  5	-2	Vettel	1
  6	0	Rosberg	1
  7	1	Sutil	1
  8	-1	Button	1
  9	1	Schumacher	1
  10	7	Kobayashi	1

• 13:46 Lap 27

  Driver Analysis

  Driver	M Schumacher
  Team	Mercedes GP
  Position	9
  Started	10
  Stops	1
  Last lap	1:39.088
  Best lap	1:37.581

• 13:48 Lap 28

  Interview with Rubens Barrichello: "We were running quite well, we had such a lovely start, I was running with a pace that was quite comfortable to try and do a two stop. They told me to stop because I had an engine failure. I tried to continue a little bit but they told me there was no way. With the championship being so long, and so few engines, I couldn't go against the whole team telling me to stop, so I had to stop."

• 13:48 Lap 28

  Tweet from @MikeGascoyne: rain maybe 30-40 mins away #f1

• 13:50 Lap 29

  Many apologies for the crush, but there is quite the gap here.

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	WEB	1:36.558
  2nd	HAM	+1.0
  3rd	ALO	+2.4
  4th	MAS	+26.3

• 13:51 Lap 30

  Team radio to Alonso: "Webber has started dropping off the tyres so I think we can start closing now."

• 13:51 Lap 30

  One to Watch

  Sutil	vs.	Button
  7th	+0.5s	8th

• 13:51 Lap 30

  Halfway through the race now, Webber leads with Hamilton and Alonso behind. Two retirements, six cars lapped.

• 13:52 Lap 30

  Yellow flag - not sure why.

• 13:52 Lap 30

  And it's gone again. That was fun.

• 13:52 Lap 31

  Webber pits from the lead.

• 13:53 Lap 31

  Replays show Chandhok spun off into the gravel but manages to spin his wheels and get out of the trap. That'd be what the yellow flags were for.

• 13:54 Lap 31

  Martin Brundle: "A gravel trap you can get out of is a rubbish gravel trap."

• 13:54 Lap 32

  Lewis Hamilton pits from the lead, giving Alonso the lead, although he still has to stop, of course.

• 13:55 Lap 32

  Hamilton returns to the track just in front of Webber, but runs wide and Webber tries to take the position back. Hamilton remains ahead but wisps of smoke come from the back of the McLaren.

• 13:55 Lap 32

  It looks like the car is okay, and the pair make it past a backmarker, Hamilton ahead of Webber.

• 13:55 Lap 32

  Replays show Jenson Button getting past Sutil, up into 7th place.

• 13:56 Lap 33

  Ferrari mechanics wait for Alonso, who dives into the pitlane from the lead.

• 13:57 Lap 33

  Alonso came out of the pitlane in the lead, rather baffingly, but Hamilton used his momentum to take the position. Hamilton leads.

• 13:57 Lap 33

  Just the top three, plus Karun Chandhok at the back, have stopped twice so far.

• 13:59 Lap 34

  Hamilton posts the fastest lap so far - 1:35.224.

• 13:59 Lap 35

  Webber loses grip on his car for a moment, and cuts the corner, but he doesn't lose or gain from the blip.

• 13:59 Lap 35

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	M Webber
  Team	Red Bull
  Pit lane	21.299s
  Stopped	4.2s

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	L Hamilton
  Team	McLaren
  Pit lane	20.496s
  Stopped	3.2s

  Pit Stop Analysis

  Driver	F Alonso
  Team	Ferrari
  Pit lane	20.035s
  Stopped	3.2s

• 14:00 Lap 35

  Button attempts a move on Rosberg for 6th place, it doesn't work but as they go down the pit straight, he tries again. Rosberg keeps the place into Turn 1.

• 14:00 Lap 35

  Rosberg outbrakes himself, goes deep, and Button gets the place. Up to 6th for JB now.

• 14:01 Lap 36

  More fastest laps from Hamilton as he starts to pull out a lead at the front.

• 14:02 Lap 36

  Team radio to Button: "Okay, Jenson, we need to box this lap, box this lap. We need to retire the car, we have a hydraulics problem."

• 14:03 Lap 37

  Rosberg pits from 7th place, and returns to the track in 8th, behind his teammate, who has yet to stop.

• 14:04 Lap 38

  Tweet from @MarussiaVirgin: Jerome has halved the gap to RIC but seems to have stopped making progress. Timo 3s ahead of LIU

• 14:04 Lap 38

  Some Renault tweeting: Petrov please pass pesky Perez for position

  Petrov powers past Perez persuasively

  Brought to you by the letter P.

• 14:05 Lap 38

  Schumacher pits from 7th and returns to the track in 12th position. Bit of work to do to get in the points.

• 14:06 Lap 39

  Tweet from @hollykmc: Poor Jenson, two retirements in two races, neither his fault. Strange to see a reliability problem this year. #f1

• 14:07 Lap 40

  Rosberg and Kobayashi squabble for 7th place. The Sauber is ahead, with a Mercedes close behind.

• 14:08 Lap 40

  Button in the garage, race over.

• 14:09 Lap 40

  Rosberg gains the position after a lap or two of battling. Nico now 7th, Kobayashi 8th.

• 14:09 Lap 41

  Liuzzi has pulled his HRT car to a stop at the end of the pitlane, another retirement this race. He wonders back to the garage, pulling off his gloves as he goes.

• 14:10 Lap 41

  Vettel has stopped from 5th place, it seemed a bit slow but he retains the position.

• 14:10 Lap 42

  Schumacher overtakes Alguersuari for 11th place.

• 14:11 Lap 42

  Massa pits from 4th place.

• 14:11 Lap 42

  The Ferrari returns to the track ahead of Vettel, locks up a little at turn one, but keeps the position for now.

• 14:11 Lap 42

  Vettel closes up behind, but can't get past just yet.

• 14:12 Lap 43

  Tweet from @EliGP: You know you are watching a good race when Vettel is struggling and Maylander is twiddling his thumbs

• 14:12 Lap 43

  Vettel locks up and takes the wrong route at the last corner, Massa stays ahead.

• 14:13 Lap 44

  Team radio to Hamilton: "Okay Lewis, the prime tyre is one and a half to two seconds slower, we need to make sure we take this tyre as long as possible."

• 14:14 Lap 44

  Tweet from @HRTF1Team: Unfortunately Tonio is forced to retire on lap 39 due to a mechancial problem #F1 #HRT

• 14:15 Lap 45

  M's now from Renault: Multi map four mandated maintenant

  I wonder if we'll see the whole alphabet?

• 14:15 Lap 45

  D'Ambrosio overtakes Ricciardo at the back of the grid. 18th position for the Virgin driver.

• 14:15 Lap 45

  Alguersuari pits from the midfield.

• 14:16 Lap 45

  Vettel is still hounding Massa for fourth place.

• 14:18 Lap 46

  Interview with Button: "I had a terrible first lap,I don't know where I ended up, I couldn't get past Petrov. Eventually did. The pace was good, it was all looking quite exciting, had a lot of fun out there. Had a hydraulic issue, had to retire the car. You never know what's going to happen with hydraulics, so yea, we had to retire the car.

  "We would have had a good race, in the end we wouldn't have been in the top three, but fourth might have been possible. I'm going to go and get warm, it's freezing out here. I'll watch and see what Lewis can do."

• 14:19 Lap 47

  Schumacher overtakes Petrov for 9th place, the Renault missed the chicane and would have had to yeild, but the Mercedes gets the place anyway.

• 14:19 Lap 47

  Schumacher did lock up as he made the chicane though, so he may have damaged his tyres.

• 14:20 Lap 48

  Petrov pits. That'll give the Renault tweeter something to do.

• 14:20 Lap 48

  Petrov is the first man to bolt on the hard tyres, so he'll be running to the end of the race now.

• 14:21 Lap 48

  Vettel has set the fastest lap of the race: 1:34.587.

• 14:22 Lap 49

  Team radio to Massa: "Okay, Vettel fastest lap of the race, he's 0.9 seconds behind now."

• 14:22 Lap 49

  Adrian Sutil pits from 6th place.

• 14:23 Lap 50

  Top Speeds

  Sector 1	Vettel	264kph
  Sector 2	Vettel	224kph
  Sector 3	Vettel	246kph
  Speed trap	Schumacher	310kph

• 14:23 Lap 50

  That's what makes a fastest lap!

• 14:25 Lap 51

  Tweet from @clubforce: Final planned stop for Adrian. 11 laps to go on the prime tyre.

• 14:25 Lap 51

  Ten laps to go now.

• 14:25 Lap 51

  Glock pits from 17th.

• 14:26 Lap 51

  Some bigger pictures of Heidfeld's retirement: http://sidepodcast.posterous.com/heidfeld-bounces-off-of-buemi

• 14:26 Lap 52

  Hamilton reports his tyres are starting to go off and in he goes for his final stop of the race.

• 14:27 Lap 52

  A good, clean stop for Hamilton, not super fast, but he's away and off on his outlap.

• 14:27 Lap 52

  The Ferrari mechanics wait in the pitlane for one of their cars.

• 14:28 Lap 53

  The red suited guys have gone back into the garage, no stop yet.

• 14:29 Lap 53

  Alonso has pitted from the lead, but his inlap was littered with traffic so he will have lost time.

• 14:30 Lap 53

  Hamilton sails past Alonso as the Ferrari exits the pits. Lewis leads.

• 14:30 Lap 54

  Webber is still in the mix, but has yet to stop for his final set of tyres.

• 14:30 Lap 54

  Meanwhile, Vettel is still hustling Massa for 4th place.

• 14:31 Lap 55

  Rosberg has pitted, and returns to the track in eighth place, just ahead of Webber. He gets out of the way, but it's not working for Webber so far.

• 14:32 Lap 55

  Vettel is half a second behind Massa, and there are five laps to go. They both have to pit again as well.

• 14:33 Lap 56

  Tweet from @clubforce: Clean final stop for Paul. He's also on primes to the finish and still chasing a point. Currently P13 and 6 laps to go.

• 14:34 Lap 56

  Team radio to Vettel: "Be patient, be smart, these are good points today."

• 14:34 Lap 57

  Webber pits from the lead.

• 14:35 Lap 57

  Webber returns to the track in third place. Hamilton leads, Alonso second.

• 14:35 Lap 57

  The only other major moment to come is Massa and Vettel who both have to stop.

• 14:37 Lap 58

  Bit of a lull now as the race draws to a close. All the battling for the lead has been done, and Hamilton just has to bring it home.

• 14:37 Lap 59

  The Ferrari mechanics are poised in the pitlane now, two laps to go.

• 14:38 Lap 59

  Vettel radio tells him to do the opposite of Massa, if he pits, stay out, if he stays out, come in. But they both stay out!

• 14:39 Lap 59

  It's the last lap. They have to pit now.

• 14:39 Lap 60

  In they go.

• 14:40 Lap 60

  Red Bull were faster in the pitstop and Vettel gets the position from Massa.

• 14:41 Lap 60

  Lewis Hamilton wins the German Grand Prix!

• 14:41

  Fernando Alonso comes in second, with Mark Webber third.

• 14:44

  Driver Positions

  Pos		Driver	Stops
  1	1	Hamilton	3
  2	2	Alonso	3
  3	-2	Webber	3
  4	-1	Vettel	3
  5	0	Massa	3
  6	2	Sutil	2
  7	-1	Rosberg	3
  8	2	Schumacher	3
  9	8	Kobayashi	2
  10	-1	Petrov	2

• 14:45

  Fernando Alonso's car stopped on the inlap, so he's hitching a lift on Webber's car.

• 14:45

  Meanwhile, Hamilton gets out of his car and cheers, hugging his mechanics, and also wondering where the other two are!

• 14:45

  Hamilton jumps over the barriers, breaking another regulation there. Alonso/Webber broken regulation as well!

• 14:46

  Alonso hitches a lift.

• 14:46

  Tweet from @alanbaldwinf1: Vettel's run of 11 successive podium finishes ends while Lewis Hamilton pulls level with Seb on 16 career wins.

• 14:46

  Replays show Alonso was told to stop his car else they run out of fuel. He pulled to the side and climbed out, and then taxi Webber appeared.

• 14:47

  Hamilton looks about as happy as it's possible to be.

• 14:48

  The three are comparing notes as they drink some much-needed water. Hamilton tells Webber he couldn't keep up with him in the middle sector at the beginning. Webber doesn't look too happy about his car.

• 14:48

  They make their way past the line of clapping Santander girls and on to the podium.

• 14:48

  The National Anthems ring out.

• 14:49

  Final gaps to the lead.

  Gap Analysis

  Pos	Driver	Gap
  1st	HAM	1:34.872
  2nd	ALO	+3.9
  3rd	WEB	+9.7
  4th	MAS	+47.9

• 14:51

  Retirements

  Driver	Reason	Lap
  Liuzzi	Mechanical	39
  Button	Hydraulics	36
  Barrichello	Engine	20
  Heidfeld	Accident	11

• 14:52

  Tweet from @JensonButton: Great job by Lewis and the team for another win! Tough day for me with a hydraulic failure.. Had fun while it lasted!

• 14:52

  Championship Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	Vettel	216
  2	Webber	139
  3	Hamilton	134
  4	Alonso	130
  5	Button	109

• 14:53

  Interview with Martin Whitmarsh: "What a fantastic race, you had three teams, three drivers, really battling out, the pitstops had to be right, at the right time, you had to be consistent. And the drivers had to be right on it. A little bit of nerves all the way through but Petrov, I think it was, was already on the prime, we saw him going green on the prime, so that was our signal really. We thought Red Bull might be more nervous of the prime than us. Lewis got straight on it, as soon as we got some greens, we knew the race was won."

• 14:54

  Race Winner

  Driver	L Hamilton
  Team	McLaren
  Race time	1:37:30.334
  Race distance	308.623km
  Average speed	189.910km/h

• 14:54

  Some bigger pictures of Webber's new taxi service: http://sidepodcast.posterous.com/webber-gives-alonso-a-lift-in-germany

• 14:55

  Interview with Stefano Domenicali: "I think it was a really great race, I'm really happy for Martin. We try to push as much as we can. We know that with this temperature we'd struggle with the warmup of the tyres. At the end of the day, Lewis did a fantastic race, Fernando was very close. If we see this kind of performance, we can see a different end to the season."

• 14:57

  Press Conference Quotes - Lewis Hamilton: "I think every win is special but I think the emotion and all the energy that the team put into the car, and the effort they put in, and when we don't see results like this, it slowly builds up. When we finally do hit the sweet spot, it's just even better. It couldn't feel any better. We never expected to come here this weekend and be so fast. The guys did a fantastic job, really pushing very hard. The engine was great.

  "I just feel great, one of the best races I think I've ever done."

• 14:58

  Press Conference Quotes - Fernando Alonso: "In the last stint, we could not get any closer to Lewis. I think with the medium tyres we were not too quick, so we just controlled the gap with Mark and secured second place. For us, it was a fantastic race, a fantastic Sunday again. We struggled a little in qualifying... but today we showed great pace, so we can keep the pace with the leaders. We jumped Vettel on track, and Mark with the stop, it was a great second place. It's definitely a good moment in the championship for us. Next week we have another opportunity."

• 14:59

  Press Conference Quotes - Mark Webber: "We weren't quick enough today. I did everything I could, was happy with how I drove. These guys just had the better margin. We know what we've got to improve on, I couldn't have got much more out of what we had today. Disappointed not to get the win, but all three of us had a smooth day. Good fight around the stops. Mixed emotions, another good result, you need to perform at a high level to get these, but we'll keep learning. The progress has been decent but we need to improve."

• 15:00

  Podium celebrations.

• 15:00

  Team Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	Red Bull	335
  2	McLaren	243
  3	Ferrari	192
  4	Mercedes	78
  5	Renault	66

• 15:01

  Tweet from @InsideFerrari: Fernando is the driver who scored more points in the last three races, a confirmation of the progress we made

• 15:02

  2011 Race Wins

  Pos	Driver	Total
  1	Sebastian Vettel	6
  2	Lewis Hamilton	2
  3	Jenson Button	1
  4	Fernando Alonso	1

• 15:04

  GP Battle

  Red Bull	Finished Ahead
  Sebastian Vettel	9
  Mark Webber	1

• 15:07

  Interview with Sebastian Vettel: "It felt good, I entered my pit box first. You can't wait to leave the box after the boys change the wheels. It was nice to see the Ferrari still stationery. It was down to them, they did a good job in the end... I think both of us were right at the limit, the cars were pretty nervous. I think fourth was probably our maximum today, which is not satisfying but we have to accept and go from there. It looks like McLaren and Ferrari are getting quicker and quicker, so we have to work harder on our car to try and improve it to get back on the podium, and maybe back on the top step again.

  "The grip was not so bad, I felt more comfortable than the cars around me at that stage. I had a good start but I was right in the sandwich with the Ferraris, I couldn't really attack under braking... I have to accept I lost the position, but then I got back.

  "It's not satisfying, but I think we have to accept that today other people were quicker than us. I'm not happy, not satisfied, so I want to come back next time. But for now, they have been working very hard, improved their car, we need to make sure we come back. I didn't feel very good all weekend, never got to the pace Mark had in the car, struggled to keep up with the top two or three cars."

• 15:09

  Tweet from @ubaidparkar: Mark Webber has now failed to convert his last four pole positions into wins #F1

• 15:10

  GP Battle

  Virgin Racing	Finished Ahead
  Timo Glock	5
  Jérôme D'Ambrosio	5

• 15:12

  And thus, the tenth race of the year comes to a close. Nine left to go.

• 15:13

  Vettel's domination appears to be waning somewhat, but he still has full control of the championship, with Red Bull also keeping their lead in the constructor's battle.

• 15:13

  Lewis Hamilton secured his second victory of the year, each one he declares is his best ever, but this did seem to be a particularly good one. The battle for the lead was fascinating throughout the race, although it died off towards the very end.

• 15:14

  The expected rain has held off for both qualifying and the race this weekend, so if ever there was proof that weather forecasts are useless, this is it.

• 15:15

  Great battles through the midfield as well, with Schumacher pushing hard to pick up points, and both Renault, Sauber and Force India trying a two-stop strategy, when all around them went for three.

• 15:16

  It's back to back racing with Hungary next weekend, so don't stray too far as we'll be back in seven days time.

• 15:17

  Stay tuned to https://sidepodcast.com and http://f1minute.com for all the news between now and then, and I will see you next week. It's a date.