F1 Paddock Notebook – German GP Sunday

- Max Verstappen claimed the seventh victory of his F1 career in style as he capitalised on mistakes for a number of his rivals to win a wet-dry thriller at Hockenheim. Verstappen hailed communication with the Red Bull pit wall as being the key to his victory as the team managed a five-stop strategy that included multiple switches from wet to dry tyres.

- With two wins in the last three races, Verstappen has moved to within 64 points of championship leader Lewis Hamilton – but stressed he was not thinking about the title, saying Mercedes was still “miles off” in the points tables.

- It was a bad day at the office for Mercedes as neither of its cars crossed the line in the points. The team had been running P1 and P2 through the opening stint, only for both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to suffer crashes. Hamilton spun off into the wall twice, had a 50-second pit stop, and received a five-second time penalty for failing to enter the pits correctly after one of his spins. He was also cleared after an FIA investigation into his speed under the Safety Car as well. Bottas had been set for a podium late on before crashing out when trying to pass Lance Stroll for third place.

- Hamilton remarkably left Hockenheim having extended his championship lead over Bottas after a post-race penalty for both Alfa Romeo drivers lifted him from P11 to P9 in the final classification. Hamilton is now 41 points clear of Bottas in the drivers’ standings.

- Sebastian Vettel fought from last place on the grid to score his best finish at Hockenheim, taking second place. Vettel battled past Carlos Sainz, Stroll and Daniil Kvyat in the final few laps to clinch P2 for Ferrari, bringing home some points for the team after Charles Leclerc crashed out before half-distance. “We need to keep believing in ourselves and our abilities and our strengths, and I’m confident our days will come,” Vettel said.

- Leclerc was left lamenting the lack of grip on the drag strip at the exit of Turn 16 that caught a number of drivers out when they ran wide. Lando Norris revealed after the race that he almost spun on the slippery kerb on his way to the grid, and feared he would not be able to make the start. “I shat myself,” Norris said laughing.

- Daniil Kvyat claimed a shock podium finish for Toro Rosso after an inspired tyre call late on lifted him from P13 to P3. Kvyat took the final restart after the Safety Car running third before passing Stroll, but was ultimately re-passed by Vettel with three laps to go. It nevertheless marked Kvyat’s third F1 podium, and just the second in Toro Rosso’s history, 11 years on from Vettel’s Monza victory.

- Kvyat revealed after the race that he had become a father for the first time on Saturday night after his girlfriend Kelly Piquet gave birth to a baby girl. "Of course I would dedicate this podium to my girlfriend Kelly and to my daughter,” Kvyat said.

- Lance Stroll narrowly missed out on his second F1 podium finish, having made the best tyre call of anyone late on when he was the first to fit slicks under the final Safety Car, having requested the move himself to Racing Point. Stroll said without a mistake at Turn 8 he felt he could have kept Kvyat back, but was powerless to stop him or Vettel from passing. It marks Racing Point’s best result of the season, and Stroll’s best finish since his third-place finish at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

- Carlos Sainz recovered from an early off at Turn 16 to record his best result of the year in P5 for McLaren, marking his seventh points finish in the last eight races. Teammate Lando Norris was forced to retire due to an engine issue early on.

- Alexander Albon wrapped up a double-points finish for Toro Rosso by finishing sixth, but had been running inside the top four throughout the middle stint of the race. The Anglo-Thai driver dropped back upon the switch to slicks, and survived a late clash with Pierre Gasly to take home his best F1 finish.

- Gasly was left frustrated after damaging his front wing and front-left tyre as he tried to pass Albon, forcing him to retire from P7 with three laps to go. Gasly was investigated by the stewards, but avoided any penalty as he had come off worst in the incident anyway.

- Alfa Romeo had originally scored a double-points finish with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi in P7 and P8 respectively, only for both cars to receive a 30-second time penalty after the race due to a clutch issue. “The torque in the clutch at the start did not match the torque demand as the driver released the clutch within the specified 70 millisecond maximum period,” read the sanction bulletin for both drivers. Raikkonen’s release was 200 milliseconds, while Giovinazzi’s was 300 milliseconds. Alfa Romeo has confirmed it will appeal the ruling.

- Not only did the call lift Lewis Hamilton into the points, but it also handed Robert Kubica an unlikely point for Williams. Kubica said he was trying to simply finish at Hockenheim and did not even consider scoring points despite the race of attrition, but left the track on Sunday with his first point since the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he finished fifth for Renault. The result means all 10 teams have now scored points this year, with George Russell being the only driver yet to record a top-10 finish.

- The other team to benefit from the ruling was Haas as Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen moved up to P7 and P8. It was the team’s first points finish since Monaco, but did not come without some drama as the two drivers almost ran into each other yet again in the closing stages. Magnussen was quick to point the finger at Grosjean, who had complained over team radio in the race that his teammate “will never learn”.

- Renault’s weekend ended in disaster as both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo retired from the race. Hulkenberg had been in contention for a podium finish before crashing out at Turn 16, while Ricciardo had been sidelined earlier in the day by an exhaust issue. The team has now been leapfrogged by Toro Rosso in the constructors’ championship.

- The new ruling for race starts in the wet came into force for the first time on Sunday, with a number of formation laps being completed before the race started on the grid as usual. Race director Michael Masi said it was a "very simple decision" to start behind the Safety Car despite complaints from drivers soon after that the track was fine to get racing.

- Kimi Raikkonen took a fresh engine, turbocharger and MGU-H ahead of the race on Sunday, putting him on the verge of future penalties by moving onto the season limit for all three components. Lando Norris was handed a grid penalty after taking a new MGU-K, energy store and control electronics, dropping him to P19, while Vettel also received a sanction for taking a new control electronics.

- Mick Schumacher completed his second demo run behind the wheel of the Ferrari F2004 on Sunday afternoon, taking to the track in wet conditions. Schumacher got out of the car to massive cheers from the grandstands, soaking up the emotion in front of his home crowd.