Hamilton takes ninth after penalties

Lewis Hamilton has been promoted to ninth and gains two points in the German GP after both Alfa Romeo drivers were handed 30-second time penalties.

The stewards’ Sunday evening verdict means Hamilton, who had finished 11th after an error-strewn race, increases his title lead over Valtteri Bottas, who crashed out, to 41 points.

Williams also finally gain their first point of a hitherto miserable 2019 with Robert Kubica classified 10th – giving the Pole his first F1 point since 2010 and his return to F1 after major injury.

Alfa drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi had finished seventh and eighth respectively in the mad-cap Hockenheim race but the team fell foul of F1’s rules concerning ‘driver aids’ before the start of races.

With the pair dropping out of the points altogether, Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen take over seventh and eighth places respectively.

Alfa Romeo fall back behind Racing Point and Haas to ninth in the Constructors’ Championship after losing what was a 10-point haul at Hockenheim.

2:18

It was a race to forget for Lewis Hamilton as he failed to collect any points at the German Grand Prix

It was a race to forget for Lewis Hamilton as he failed to collect any points at the German Grand Prix

Revised German GP result
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
3. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso
4. Lance Stroll, Racing Point
5. Carlos Sainz, McLaren
6. Alex Albon, Toro Rosso
7. Romain Grosjean, Haas
8. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
9. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
10. Robert Kubica, Williams
11. George Russell, Williams
12. Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo
13. Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo

Alfa trouble gives Mercedes’ small reprieve
Having seemingly failed to register points in a race for the first time in 13 months, Hamilton and Mercedes can count themselves fortunate to ultimately secure two more to add to their still-commanding championship advantages.

Hamilton described it as the “worst day I’ve had in the office for a long time”, while team boss Toto Wolff admitted that “everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong”, amid team and driver mistakes in changeable conditions and multiple Safety Car phases.

Hamilton tweeted on Sunday night:

In post-race scrutineering, both Alfa Romeo cars were reported to the stewards by the FIA technical delegate after their race start data was deemed not to be in compliance with the regulations.

The team were found to have contravened the Article in the Sporting Regulations which states that ‘the driver must drive the car alone and unaided’.

In a lengthy technical explanation of why Alfa Romeo had been punished, stewards ruled that ‘the torque in the clutch at the start did not match the torque demand as the driver released the clutch within the specified 70 millisecond maximum period’.

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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz looks back on an eventful weekend at the Hockenheimring

Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz looks back on an eventful weekend at the Hockenheimring

“In the case of both cars of Alfa Romeo Racing, the time that it took for the torque to align with the torque demand was close to 200 milliseconds and 300 milliseconds respectively,” read the stewards’ verdict.

“This provided a more gradual application of the torque, which given the wet conditions was a potential advantage. Regardless of whether there was an actual advantage, the Stewards determined that this was a clear breach of the guidance given to the teams as to how this would be adjudicated.”

Thirty-second time penalties were applied to both Raikkonen and Giovinazzi in lieu of 10-second stop-and-go penalties, which would have been given had they been meted out during the race. Stewards likened it to a penalty for a false start.

Don’t miss the next installment of F1 2019 at the Hungarian GP this coming weekend on Sky Sports F1 – the final race before the summer break. Find out more here to watch the 2019 season live