Lewis Hamilton's worst Mercedes race: How nightmare German GP unravelled

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton's worst Mercedes race: How nightmare German GP unravelled

From first place to scoreless.

Matthew Scott

Sunday 28 July 2019 17:56 Updated: 21:47

Lewis Hamilton endured arguably his worst race since moving to Mercedes at the German Grand Prix as his hopes dissolved in the Hockenheim rain.

Hamilton has largely dominated Formula 1 with the Silver Arrows, but Sunday's race proved that even he is liable to nightmare outings.

What makes it all the more remarkable is that Hamilton had driven brilliantly to lead from pole position for a good chunk of a race that never elevated itself from a state of madness.

Here's how Hamilton's race descended into misery.

LAP 1: Hamilton makes a supreme start from pole position as chaos ensues behind him to keep hold of P1.

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LAP 3: Sergio Perez crunches into the wall, with much of the field diving in for intermediate tyres, including Hamilton.

LAP 5: Hamilton surges clear at the restart. Kevin Magnussen gambled on keeping full wets fitted and was second, holding back Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas as Hamilton opens up a solid lead.

LAP 28: Lando Norris retires with a loss of power, Hamilton pits for soft tyres under the VSC. The stop is a little sluggish, but he retains first place comfortably ahead of Charles Leclerc.

LAP 31: The turning point. Just a lap after Leclerc goes off at the final turn, Hamilton also loses it at the same spot. He swipes off half his front wing and has to cut across the circuit to dive back into the pits, where Mercedes are not ready to service him. At the last minute, they ditch slick tyres for more intermediates and Hamilton comes out fifth after more than a minute in the pitlane.

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🧐 Problems for Lewis Hamilton . The Mercedes driver returns to the pits for a new front wing after going off and hitting the barriers at the same spot as Charles Leclerc... He’s also picked up a 5-second penalty for entering the pit lane on the wrong side of the bollard 😮 . #GermanGP 🇩🇪 #Formula1 #F1

A post shared by FORMULA 1® (@f1) on Jul 28, 2019 at 7:25am PDT

LAP 33: Stewards announce Hamilton is under investigation for entering the pitlane incorrectly after his crash. He went the wrong way around a bollard put in place in response to his incident there last year.

LAP 34: A five-second penalty is confirmed for Hamilton.

LAP 36: The stewards open another investigation into Hamilton, this time for driving too slowly under the safety car.

LAP 37: Hamilton takes fourth place from Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon with a simple pass.

LAP 38: Nico Hulkenberg also can't hold off Hamilton, who moves up to P3. Bottas and Verstapen are up ahead.

LAP 46: After another safety car, Hamilton makes a sluggish restart and has to fight off Albon and Carlos Sainz at the hairpin, his intermediate tyres struggling desperately for grip.

LAP 49: Hamilton pits for slick tyres. Having served his time penalty, he comes back out in 12th.

LAP 53: Hamilton once again spins off-track in the last sector. He somehow avoids contact with the barriers and continues on his way.

LAP 54: Having flat-spotted his tyres, Hamilton pits again and emerges dead last.

LAP 57: Bottas crashes from fourth place, bringing out the safety car again. Hamilton pits once again for fresh tyres.

LAP 64: Hamilton climbs to 11th before the final lap, but cannot catch the Haas of Romain Grosjean before the chequered flag and finishes outside the points for the first time since Spain 2013 – his only ever other finish outside the top 10 for Mercedes.

POST-RACE: Remarkably, Hamilton salvages two points as he is elevated to ninth by Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi picking up post-race penalties.