Lewis Hamilton thanked the rain shower that hit the Hockenheimring during the German Grand Prix, suggesting that it “washed away” all the negativity he felt over the weekend.
Hamilton won against the odds in the southwest of Germany after starting from fourteenth on the grid, helped by championship rival Sebastian Vettel crashing out during the wet spell whilst leading.
His victory was placed under doubt following an incident that happened under the Safety Car triggered by Vettel’s accident, as he was subject to a miscommunication over the radio with his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport pitwall. When committing to the pit entry road, Hamilton was ordered to bail out of the stop and had to take to the grass to rejoin the track.
Despite the incident violating Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 4 of the FIA Sporting Regulations, a number of other circumstances surrounding the event saw Hamilton escape with a reprimand and keep his win. He now holds a 17-point lead over Vettel in the Drivers’ Championship.
“I’ve never experienced a race quite like this,” said Hamilton, in disbelief.
“I knew sitting on the grid that I had to catch the guys at the front – that was my goal.”
Hamilton’s lowly grid position was courtesy of a loss of hydraulic pressure at the end of Qualifying 1 yesterday, believed to be a result of the Brit running wide over the kerbs at Turn 1. In a bid to get his car back to the pits for repairs, Hamilton even tried to push the car after stopping on the exit of Turn 9.
In order to aid his progress, Mercedes started Hamilton on the soft tyres, the medium compound brought to Germany by Pirelli, for a long first stint – lasting over 40 laps – in case the threat of rain materialised. The new championship leader made his way through the field, slower than his comeback at the Silverstone International Circuit two weeks’ ago, to settle around the podium positions when his rivals’ pitstops took place.
Towards the end of the race, team-mate Valtteri Bottas was asked to sit behind Hamilton and not challenge for victory evn though he was sporting fresher ultra-soft tyres.
“I did a very long first stint, but I had to stop just before it started to rain as the tyre just couldn’t hold out any longer,” he added.
“It rained more and more and it was so tricky out there, but I’d come so far, there was no way I was giving it up. To get the 1-2 for Mercedes, especially on a weekend when the team showed their confidence in us by re-signing us [both Hamilton and Bottas extended their contracts this week], is tremendous.”
Hamilton conceded that he thought that a victory was unlikely, but said that his pre-race prayers were answered; believing that the rain helped rid the negativity surrounding his qualifying and grid position.
“I would never have thought you could do something like that today but I just kept pushing, I kept believing and it happened,” he continued.
“I prayed as I always do before the race, and it feels like those prayers were answered. There was a lot of negativity this weekend, but I feel like the rain has come down and washed away all of that negativity.
“It’s been a real dream and a day I’ll always remember.”
