McLaren's Lewis Hamilton Upsets String Of Red Bull Victories With Second Win In 2011

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton took his second victory of the 2011 Formula One season and 16th win of his career at the German Grand Prix. Having stolen the lead from polesitter Mark Webber of Red Bull at the start, the rest of the intense race saw Hamilton defending his lead, outmaneuvering and finally finishing ahead of the second-placed Fernando Alonso of Ferrari by 3.9 seconds, with Webber in the third place, 9.7 seconds behind Hamilton.

This season's sensation and Championship leader, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull only managed fourth place—the first time the German has not been on the podium after 10 out of 19 races—after struggling with his brakes throughout the race. Even so, Vettel still leads the Drivers' World Championship ranking with 216 points, followed by Webber with 139 points, Hamilton with 134 points and Alonso with 130 points.

Hamilton, whose win at Nürburgring was only the second after his first in Shanghai, found his grueling win more special and satisfying than it usually is. “Every win is special—but with all the emotion, effort and energy the team put into today's victory, this one feels even more special than usual”, the Briton said. “That was one of the best races that I have ever done”.

“The fight for the World Championship will be very, very, very hard now”, the 2008 World Champion added at the post-race conference. “We're back in the fight though, and I really hope we can carry this forward and keep the momentum going”.