McLaren Mercedes Takes Hockenheim For First In A Decade

After winning the home race for McLaren in England two weeks ago, it was time for Lewis Hamilton to take the home victory for Mercedes at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Amazingly, it was also the first time McLaren Mercedes had won at Hockenheim since Mika Hakkinen won here for the team in 1998.

Hakkinen, by the way, was on hand to witness this incredible race and magnificent team and driver victory. Ferrari was literally stuck in the sand as McLaren beat them on pure speed and a surprising call to not ask Hamilton to make a pit stop during the safety car period when Timo Glock had an accident.

"Today's victory topped off another magnificent weekend for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team," said Ron Dennis, the team director and part owner. "I stress the word 'team' because our win was very much a team effort. The deployment of the safety car presented us with a difficult decision: Should we or should we not bring Lewis in for a pitstop? We decided that, since he still had quite a lot of fuel on board, we would leave him out until Lap 50. We'd expected the track to be cleared of debris a little faster than it was, which would have allowed the safety car to come in a bit earlier. As a result Lewis was unable to rejoin the race in the lead. He responded majestically, however, and scored another fabulous win."