Sebastian Vettel resists Kimi Raikkonen for home win

Sebastian Vettel held off a strong challenge from Kimi Raikkonen to win the German Grand Prix for the first time.

Having led from Turn 1 of the race, Vettel came under heavy pressure from Romain Grosjean and then from the other Lotus driver, Kimi Raikkonen during the finishing stages, but he had enough pace to keep the Lotus pair at bay to win by just one second. Grosjean faded slightly towards the end but still finished third ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber’s challenge ended early as a pit stop error from Red Bull saw him leave his pit box with a loose right rear wheel. The wheel detached and struck an FOM cameraman – who is now at Koblenz hospital under observation – leaving Webber a lap down when he rejoined.

As the Lotus duo took turns to hound Vettel for most of the race, it looked unlikely that the Red Bull driver would be able to cling on for victory, but he ultimately managed to after a dogged drive.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton was swamped by the faster-starting Red Bulls off the line, as Vettel and Mark Webber moved into an immediate one-two. Webber stayed right his team-mate until the first pitstops, when he was sent out before his right-rear wheel was fully attached. The tyre shot off and hit a television cameraman further down the pitlane.

Hamilton lost ground with heavy tyre wear as the race progressed, but Lotus moved in the opposite direction. Grosjean ran 13 laps on softs in his first stint – far better than anyone else managed – and that jumped him from fifth to second. The Frenchman then chased Vettel down, though he could not get closer than two seconds behind.

A safety car just mid-distance closed things up and brought Raikkonen from 12s down into contention.The caution period was required after Jules Bianchi’s Marussia retired in a cloud of smoke and flamed, and then began drifting back across the circuit on the chicane approach after its drivers had got out.

The leaders made their second stops behind the safety car but could not make it from there to the end. Grosjean was first to pit, with Vettel reacting on the next lap and staying ahead. Raikkonen ran 10 laps further then pitted for softs, allowing him to charge back past Grosjean (who obeyed a team order) and then catch Vettel.

But the world champion had just enough in hand to hang on and win by just a second. Grosjean resisted a similar late surge from Fernando Alonso to keep third. Alonso’s Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa spun out at the first corner just four laps in while running sixth.

Hamilton ended up fifth, passing two-stopper Jenson Button’s McLaren on the last lap. Webber was brought back to the Red Bull garage and given a new wheel, then recovered from a distant last to seventh, just ahead of McLaren’s Sergio Perez.

Nico Rosberg could make little progress from 11th on the grid and finished ninth ahead of countryman Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber. Daniel Ricciardo faded from sixth on the grid to 12th, between the Force Indias. Williams appeared to have a shot at points for a while, before pitstop delays hampered both its drivers.

German GP 2013 Results:

Pos Driver Team 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 3. Grosjean Lotus-Renault 4. Alonso Ferrari 5. Hamilton Mercedes 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes 7. Webber Red Bull-Renault 8. Perez McLaren-Mercedes 9. Rosberg Mercedes10. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari11. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes12. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes14. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari15. Maldonado Williams-Renault16. Bottas Williams-Renault17. Pic Caterham-Renault18. van der Garde Caterham-Renault19. Chilton Marussia-CosworthDNF. Vergne Toro Rosso-FerrariDNF. Bianchi Marussia-CosworthDNF. Massa Ferrari

World Championship standings, round 9:

Drivers: Constructors: 1. Vettel 157 1. Red Bull-Renault 250 2. Alonso 123 2. Mercedes 181 3. Raikkonen 118 3. Ferrari 180 4. Hamilton 97 4. Lotus-Renault 159 5. Webber 93 5. Force India-Mercedes 59 6. Rosberg 84 6. McLaren-Mercedes 49 7. Massa 57 7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 24 8. Grosjean 41 8. Sauber-Ferrari 7 9. Di Resta 3610. Button 3311. Sutil 2312. Perez 1613. Vergne 1314. Ricciardo 1115. Hulkenberg 7