Piquet took his maiden career podium and Renault's first in 2008. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

It was clear Hamilton would need to build a massive lead in order to retain his lead after his final stop, and that was simply not possible in the nine-lap gap between the return to green and his second pit.

Thus the McLaren man returned in sixth as Piquet jumped to the lead when Heidfeld also had to pit under green. Driving brilliantly, though, Hamilton began disposing of the competition, first with ease – teammate Heikki Kovalainen – then with determined moves on Massa, on lap 55, and Piquet two laps later, both at the hairpin at the end of the main straight.

Then, finally, it was smooth sailing for another masterful win by Hamilton, who now leads the championship with no company at 58 points. Massa is second with 54, while Raikkonen’s sixth-place result boosted the Finn to 51. Kubica earned two points from seventh and now tallies 48.

"I would have much preferred an easy and comfortable afternoon out front, but it didn't work out that way," said Hamilton, who admitted to be puzzled by the team’s decision not to pit him under yellow. "The team opted for me to stay out and I guess they thought that I could have pulled a gap, but it was a 23 second gap I needed and I had about seven [nine] laps...

"I said 'are you sure about this?' But we all have opinions on certain things and make decisions, and for sure we'll learn from this one and move on for the next race. We had the best and quickest car this weekend, and we came out on top.”

Piquet for his part welcomed the stroke of luck that quintupled his 2008 points tally from two to ten: "I don't even know where to start," said the rookie, whose result coupled with Massa’s P3 meant that two Brazilians shared the podium for the first time since Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet Sr. made the top-three in the 1991 Belgian GP. "The car was getting better and better in practice, and we were going well until qualifying, where I didn't have a very good run in the first session, and then when on the second run I got a bit of traffic, and that was it, so I started from the back [in 17th].

"I thought that was how I'd finish my weekend, but then we became quite lucky with these safety car rules. The team did a good decision by pulling me in at the right time. Obviously before the race we had a bit of a gamble between one and two stops, and we had the option when we started the race, and I think it was perfect strategy because if we'd gone for an aggressive, short first stint and tried to overtake in the beginning, I wouldn't have arrived here (on the podium). So we got lucky, and in the end I just maintained my pace."

Massa said he didn’t have the car to battle for the win and appeared conformed with third place: "Looking at Lewis’ pace in the race, I think I did a great qualifying because McLaren had so much pace. In the race, the first stint he was half a second quicker and when it's like that you can do nothing. I think at the end of the day it was a good race because we finished third and we're only just past the middle of the season so the championship is open.”

The 2008 F1 season resumes in two weeks time with the Hungarian GP.

GERMAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS


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