Hamilton wins again to lead F1 standings

HOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) -- McLaren's Lewis Hamilton has won the German Grand Prix for his fourth Formula One victory of the year.

Hamilton started from pole position but lost his lead because of a late pit stop, before overtaking Felipe Massa of Ferrari and then Nelson Piquet Jr. with eight laps to go for a 5.5-second victory over the rookie Renault driver, who claimed the first podium of his career.

The success gives Hamilton the sole lead in the overall standings, four points ahead of Massa, who finished third.

Nick Heidfeld worked his way up from 12th position to finish fourth ahead of McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen in fifth place.

It was 23-year-old Hamilton's second win in succession -- the first driver to do so this year -- and the eighth of his career, a feat that hauled him clear of all his rivals and gave McLaren their first win at Hockenheim in 10 years.

Hamilton now lies on 58 points, four ahead of Massa. The Brazilian's Ferrari team-mate, world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen, is seven points adrift after finishing a disappointing sixth.

Hamilton dominated the first half of the race after powering away from the ninth pole position of his career.

The Briton had built-up a lead of around 12 seconds by lap 36 when German Timo Glock crashed out in his Toyota. Glock lost control of his car at the last corner when the right rear tire suddenly deflated sending him spearing into the wall.

The German, 26, slid backwards down the home straight before his wrecked car finally came to a stop.

Glock was clearly dazed after he got out of the Toyota and was later taken to the medical center and then a local hospital for a check-up.

"He has now completed these tests and they have confirmed he is fine. He has no concussion," said Toyota team chief Tadashi Yamashina. "Naturally Timo is a bit shaken by the accident but all the checks have shown he is fine so we are not worried."

Glock will be kept in hospital overnight for observation, but should be able to drive in the Hungarian GP on August 3.

Hamilton was kept out on the track as all his main rivals made their final pit-stops under the safety car.

The Mercedes-powered driver dropped to fifth when he was forced to make his final pit-stop, but soon passed team-mate Heikki Kovalainen for third spot.

Hamilton then hunted down Massa overtaking his rival on lap 57 as he forced his rival wide at the chicane to take second with Nick Heidfeld having pitted for BMW.

"I didn't plan that. I would have preferred a more comfortable race," said Hamilton. "We got a decent start, had two decent stints, but the team opted for me to stay out.

"Hey, we all have decisions to make, and for sure we will learn from this one. I then kept pushing after my second stop, and credit to Heikki who is a great team-mate, who could see I was quicker."

Speaking on overtaking Massa and Piquet, he added: "I was told I was a second quicker than Felipe. I knew I only had a small window before my tires would start to grain, so I was able to get quite close.

"I managed to get him under braking, and it was great fun. I thought my work was done, but I was told I still had Nelson in front of me, but I managed to do that cleanly and fairly."

Piquet, on the podium after starting a lowly 17th, said: "I got quite lucky, but I was on the perfect strategy and the team called me in at the right time.

"I knew I was leading the race at one point, but Lewis was much quicker than me and I decided to make it a safe second place rather than a third or fourth."

With two Brazilians on the podium for the first time since 1991 at the Belgian Grand Prix when Piquet's father, Nelson, was joined by Ayrton Senna, Massa was not too despondent at finishing third.

"The pace of Lewis at the start was so quick, half a second per lap quicker, and when it's like that there's not a lot you can do," said Massa.

"Then after the safety car period the team did a normal, good job -- although Lewis was perhaps a bit too optimistic there. Then on the final set of tires I didn't have stability and I was having trouble on the brakes.

"I was not able to fight today, but at the end of the day it was a good race. We now have to work very hard for the rest of the season to give us a car to compete for the remainder of the races," added Massa.

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