Mercedes rider Lewis Hamilton suffered a minor setback but managed to pull through and keep his German Grand Prix victory.
Hamilton who is fresh off signing a two-year extension with Mercedes was issued with a reprimand after an incident in the final stages of the race. A miscommunication between the Mercedes pit wall and Hamilton resulted in the latter to cross the pit lane on lap 53. The British rider bailed out in the final moment to cut across the grass separating the track and the entrance of the pit lane.
Stewards immediately called out Hamilton to investigate a possible violation of the FIA International Sporting Code. Hamilton finished the race 4.5 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas, which meant that the victory of the former was in danger.
Nonetheless, the race stewards decided to issue Hamilton his first reprimand which means that his final race time remained unchanged. The race stewards added that a reprimand was the appropriate penalty for Hamilton. Other potential punishments included five or 10-second penalties.
"It was the most confusing second and a half and I honestly thought I was going to stay out, I was happy with my tyres and then they said come in and I saw Valtteri ahead coming in so I was like 'are you sure about it' and by the time we got in they were like 'no stay out' and it was literally twice, 'go left, go right', so I just slowed down and trundled over some grass," Hamilton recalled.
The race also drew comparisons in the incident involving Kimi Raikkonen at the 2016 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. However, Raikkonen was slapped with a five-second penalty by game officials.
Hamilton Recovers Just In Time
The Mercedes daredevil started the race at 14th but managed to crawl his way up to the fifth spot with just over 20 laps to go. An unfortunate crash by Sebastian Vettel resulted in Hamilton to take the lead as his opponents pitted following the next safety car period.
Mercedes would then order Bottas to hold his position to protect their one-two finish in the race. The victory gave Hamilton a comfortable 17-point lead over Ferrari's Vettel in the standings.
"We all have dreams and they just seem so impossible to reach but I have done it time and time again," Hamilton said.
Hamilton hopes to sustain his momentum as he competes in the Hungarian Grand Prix next weekend. The Hungarian Grand Prix is the final race before F1's month-long summer break.
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