Hamilton always believed German GP win was on

Lewis Hamilton said he always believed his stunning German Grand Prix victory was possible after Sebastian Vettel's crash opened the door for him to win an incredible race from 14th on the grid. Victory puts Hamilton 17 points clear of Vettel atop the drivers' standings.

Saturday had gone all wrong for Hamilton, as a hydraulic failure ended his qualifying in Q1, with Vettel going on to take a supreme pole.

However, rain arrived midway through Sunday's race, leaving a slippery track that caught Vettel out at the Sachs curve and left him in the barrier.

When Kimi Raikkonen pitted under the safety car, Hamilton was suddenly in the lead for the first time, with a handful of laps remaining.

Hamilton's win was only confirmed two and a half hours after he crossed the line - stewards seeing fit to reprimand him for crossing te pit lane to remain on-track, avoiding a costly time penalty.

Asked if he truly believed he could win the race immediately afterwards, Hamilton said: "I did! It's obviously very, very difficult from that position and highly unlikely but you've always got to believe.

"I said a long, long prayer before the race started. We did the parade lap, I saw how much support we had and just wanted to stay collected, stay calm and the team did such a great job.

"The car was fantastic today, I'm so grateful. I would have never thought you could do something like that today.

"I just kept pushing, kept believing and it happened. I manifested my dream today so thanks to God.

"It was so tough out there, conditions were perfect for business time. When it rains I knew that I would have the good position but you never knew what was going to happen.

"After the safety car the other guys behind had new tyres on, I'm just so grateful for the hard work the team have done and hopefully this justifies their belief in me and justifies my belief in them.

"For those who don't know me, now you do."