F1 Paddock Notebook - German GP Sunday

With a final round-up of all of the news and notes following a busy raceday at Hockenheim, Crash.net F1 Editor Luke Smith brings you his paddock notebook.

- Lewis Hamilton charged to his fourth victory of the season in a thrilling race at Hockenheim on Sunday, reclaiming the lead of the drivers' championship in the process. With Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel crashing out, Hamilton now enjoys an 18-point buffer at the top of the standings.

- Hamilton won from 14th on the grid, making it the first time in 18 years a driver had won at Hockenheim starting outside the top three - the last being Rubens Barrichello, who won from 18th in 2000. Hamilton also came from his lowest starting grid position to win a race, his previous lowest being sixth at Silverstone in 2014.

- It was Hamilton's 44th win while using the car number 44, with the use of permanent F1 numbers coming into force at the start of 2014.

- The victory came after Hamilton was investigated by the stewards for a possible breach of the sporting code in his cross across the pit entry line on Lap 52. He was later cleared with a reprimand.

- Sebastian Vettel blew the chance to win at Hockenheim for the first time in his F1 career, with his sole German Grand Prix coming at the Nurburgring in 2013. Vettel was set to move around 20 points clear of Hamilton in the championship, only for his crash at the Sachs Kurve to offer the latest twist in the title race.

- It marked Vettel's first non-score of the season, and his first retirement since last year's Japanese Grand Prix.

- By taking a one-two finish, Mercedes reclaimed the lead of the constructors' championship, which it lost in Austria. The team now sits eight points clear in the standings of Ferrari.

- Bottas was given the call by Mercedes not to try and attack Hamilton in the closing stages of the race, with Toto Wolff saying afterwards that it would have made the same decision had the cars been the other way around in the interests of protecting the one-two finish.

- Kimi Raikkonen picked up his fourth podium finish in a row by taking P3 for Ferrari. He has also matched his tally of podiums from 2017 in the opening 11 races of the year. Only Hamilton has more podiums under his belt.

- Max Verstappen was Red Bull's sole finisher at Hockenheim after teammate Daniel Ricciardo's charge from the back of the grid was halted by an engine issue. Ricciardo had been rising up the order on the Medium compound tyre before he parked up during the first stint.

- Nico Hulkenberg scored his best result of the season in fifth place for Renault, beating the Haas duo of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. All three drivers made a switch to wet tyres at one stage, with the Haas pair coming in much later and being forced to rise back up the order late on; Hulkenberg was able to stay firm in fifth.

- Grosjean recorded his second points finish of the season in sixth for Haas. Teammate Kevin Magnussen was unable to recover into the points, ultimately being classified 11th.

- Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon opted to stay out through the rain on slick tyres, taking P6 and P7 at the flag. Perez had been in the fight to lead the midfield after a quick start, only for a slow pit stop to cost him time.

- Marcus Ericsson also stayed out throughout on slicks, allowing him to record his third points finish of the season, matching his best finish of P9 from Bahrain.

- Brendon Hartley was another driver to match his best result, joking after the race how he was the only driver in the field to double his score for the season, picking up a point for P10. Hartley managed to fend off a quick Magnussen in the closing stages to secure the point for Toro Rosso. Hartley and Gasly have now both scored points in two races this season.

- Carlos Sainz Jr. had been classified 10th on-track, but was demoted to 12th as a result of a 10-second time penalty for overtaking under the Safety Car. It marked his third straight race outside of the points.

- Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc both finished a lap down after gambling on their tyre selection when rain first hit the track. Leclerc went for intermediates before moving onto dry tyres, only for the worst of the rain to follow. Gasly made the same gamble, albeit on wet tyres - a decision made by the team - but overheated them a great deal in dry conditions.

- Stoffel Vandoorne had looked set to retire after being told to box with an issue, but McLaren made some setup changes to keep him in the race, allowing him to finish 13th. Teammate Fernando Alonso failed to finish, having also gambled on tyres in the wet before retiring due to a possible gearbox issue.

- Williams drivers Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll retired within two laps of each other late on. Sirotkin had an engine oil leak, while Stroll suffered a brake failure. Williams and McLaren were the only two teams not to score points in this race.

- FIA race director Charlie Whiting confirmed he gave feedback to Assen regarding required changes should it wish to host F1, amid continued pushes for a Dutch Grand Prix to join the calendar. Further meetings took place between Dutch officials and FOM over the weekend at Hockenheim.

- After a rain coming and going in the closing stages of the race, a thunderstorm hit the circuit for the podium ceremony and remained for around an hour after the race, flooding much of the paddock. It made the pack-up more difficult for teams, and left this writer with a ruined pair of shoes!