German Grand Prix LIVE: Max Verstappen wins second race of the season as Hamilton and Bottas crash
Re-live the live updates from Hockenheim where championship leader Lewis Hamilton endured a nightmare afternoon as Red Bull took the spoils
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Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen mastered the tricky Hockenheim conditions to win the German Grand Prix as both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas crashed out of the running on a miserable day for the championship leaders.
Hamilton looked on course for victory after leading from the front, but repeated accidents throughout the field caused chaos in the running order as different strategies played out. After Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed out of fourth position, Hamilton followed him into the wall the following lap with the safety car already deployed, which required him to pit immediately for a new front wing and land him a five-second time penalty for missing the pit entry.
The error allowed Verstappen to take the lead of the race, and despite further safety car periods due to Bottas' accident at Turn One, the Red Bull youngster was able to take the chequered flag and finish ahead of a hard-charging Sebastian Vettel who went from last to second, with the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat a surprise finisher in third, one day after the birth of his first child. Re-live the action below.
What time does it start?
The German Grand Prix gets underway at 2:10pm BST (3:10pm CET).
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 at 7pm.
Starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 11.767secs
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:12.113
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:12.129
4 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:12.180
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.538
6 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:12.851
7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:12.897
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:13.065
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:13.126
10 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari No Time Set
11 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.786
12 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:12.789
13 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:12.799
14 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.135
15 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:13.450
16 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.333
17 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.461
18 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:14.721
19 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:14.839
20 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari No Time Set
Zak Brown is backing both of his drivers to start on full wets, while McLaren driver Lando Norris reports back with the detailed analysis:
"It's wet. Very wet."
The FIA have confirmed that the formation lap ill be behind the safety car, but they have not announced a saftey car start as of yet. As it stands, we're going racing in 10 minutes' time.
Here's today's starting grid:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 11.767secs
2 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:12.113
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:12.129
4 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull 1:12.180
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.538
6 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:12.851
7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:12.897
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:13.065
9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:13.126
10 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari No Time Set
11 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:12.786
12 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:12.789
13 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:12.799
14 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.135
15 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:13.450
16 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.333
17 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:13.461
18 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:14.721
19 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:14.839
20 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari No Time Set
This is starting to get a bit confusing now. Hamilton has been told to set off behind the safety car for "a few laps", with the driver Bernd Maylander set to then make a decision on whether there should be a standing start or safety car start.
Basically, we have no idea right now how the race will start.
The formation lap is not scrapped under the safety car start, as we could still have a standing start if it's proved dry enough.
Here's the forecast for the afternoon, and it's rain, rain rain for the next hour.
It's a second lap under the safety car, but to be honest the track doesn't look in a bad condition. The bigger problem is the spray that is coming off the cars, which gives the drivers about zero visibility, according to Carlos Sainz.
It's worth remembering that these laps do not count towards the Grand Prix like they used to, although cars have been fuelled for the 67 lap race which could just play a part later in the afternoon.
Both Verstappen and Hamilton radio in for the race to get underway. "It's not even that wet", says Hamilton.
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