Hamilton wins the hard way

LEWIS HAMILTON can add a German Grand Prix “miracle” to his cv of achievements.

Hamilton had been coasting to victory at Hockenheim, untroubled for the opening 35 laps of the 67-lap race after making the perfect start from pole position.

But the nature of the day altered when Timo Glock was involved in a spectacular shunt which resulted in the introduction of the safety car and the erosion of Hamilton’s comfortable 12-second lead.

When the pit lane re-opened, 11 drivers dived in for fresh rubber, taking on fuel until the end, but remarkably Hamilton was not one of them. McLaren felt the safety car would come in sooner than it did, and their strategy almost backfired and could have cost Hamilton the win.

When the safety car finally departed, Hamilton was asked to open up an impossible 23-second cushion, the time needed to pit for a second time and still retain the lead, in nine laps.

It was never going to happen, and when Hamilton did pit again his lead was just 13 seconds, relegating him to fifth with seemingly little chance of victory.

But first team-mate Heikki Kovalainen obligingly let him through on lap 52, then BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld made his second stop soon after, promoting Hamilton to third.

The 23-year-old then reeled in Felipe Massa, brilliantly passing the Ferrari, under braking into the hairpin prior to bullying his title rival into running wide on lap 57.

Three laps later mission impossible was complete when Hamilton made the same move at the same part of the circuit on an unlikely leader in Nelson Piquet as the Renault driver benefited from a one-stop strategy.

After chalking up back-to-back wins for the first time in 13 months and opening up a four-point gap over Massa in the title race, Hamilton said: “What happened was not planned.

“I would have much preferred an easy, comfortable afternoon out in front. But it didn’t work that way.

“The team opted for me to stay out. I guess they thought I could pull out a gap, but it was a 23-second gap I needed and I only had seven laps.

“I don’t know how that worked, but they said they were comfortable with where we were. They said the other guys would be heavy, they would be in traffic so I should be able to pull a gap, and I did everything I could to do that. I kind of understood and I just kept pushing, but I was over the limit, pushing and pushing trying to get the gap.

“But it wasn’t possible, and when I came in it was looking like I would just be collecting points.

“I eventually came out behind Heikki. I have to say a big thank you to him, he was a great team-mate. He didn’t put up a huge fight as he saw I was quicker.

“I was then able to battle, and it’s even more exciting for me to have won this race after competing with Felipe and Nelson. Although once I got past Felipe I thought I was in the lead and that was it, but I had Nelson ahead of me who did a great job.

“In the end I’m sure the public enjoyed watching such a battle.”

But after a near-perfect weekend to follow on his from his one-man show in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Hamilton is aware of how quickly the situation could again turn.

“It’s a good feeling to come off a strong win at Silverstone, come here and pretty much dominate all weekend,” added the Briton.

“It’s great to see the pace we have, but we have to take it a step at a time because we’ve a long way to go, and we have to make sure we continue with this performance.

“This weekend we have proven the performance of the team and car is very good, so I’m very happy with my job and that of the team.

“I’m not as excited as I was when I won in Monaco, but I’m very happy.”

For Piquet, it was undoubtedly the result of his career, especially holding off fellow Brazilian Massa in the closing stages to finish runner-up.

Behind the leading trio came Heidfeld, followed by Finns Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari, who is now seven points behind Hamilton.

Robert Kubica was seventh in his BMW Sauber and is 10 points off the pace, with Sebastian Vettel taking the final point for Toro Rosso.

David Coulthard and Jenson Button could only manage 13th and 17th for Red Bull and Honda respectively.

Glock, meanwhile, is to remain in a local hospital overnight after sustaining a back injury.