| 13.30 | Welcome to F1-Live.com and live coverage of the 67-lap German Grand Prix which gets underway in just over 30 minutes. |
| 13.32 | Lewis Hamilton starts the German Grand Prix from the pole position, the ninth time in his 27 starts to date and for the third time this season. The McLaren driver set a best time of 1:15.666s around the 4.574km circuit, two-tenths clear of his nearest rival. |
| 13.34 | Felipe Massa starts second in his Ferrari and it seem that the McLaren and Ferrari are pretty evenly matched this weekend. Many predict that the F2008 is especially effective on the longer runs, so if that is the case, we should have a good close race ahead. |
| 13.36 | Heikki Kovalainen recovered from a small off track moment in qualifying to record the third fastest time. Late on Saturday it was revealed that Kovalainen took on some fuel in Q2 not from the fuelling rig and subsequently earned himself a 5000 Euro fine. Kovalainen needs a strong result at Hockenheim. |
| 13.38 | A great effort from Jarno Trulli sees the Italian veteran line up on the second row of the grid in his Toyota just half a second shy of Hamilton’s pole time. This is the team’s home event and Trulli will be looking to prove his qualifying pace was not simply due to a low fuel run. |
| 13.40 | It is a similar situation for Renault with Fernando Alonso starting from fifth position. Recent events have seen Renault run Alonso light in qualifying only for his race pace to suffer with long second stints on worn tyres. Alonso was surprised to be fifth in qualifying, so perhaps he is on a normal fuel load. |
| 13.42 | Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen starts sixth and has not looked comfortable in his Ferrari this weekend. The car lacks turn in grip forcing Raikkonen to take it gently into the turns and therefore losing time in the process. Starting sixth, Raikkonen will be looking to try and secure a podium position unless his F2008 has been miraculously transformed overnight in parc ferme! |
| 13.44 | A home race for the BMW Sauber team as well and so far it is not a good weekend for the team. Robert Kubica starts seventh a second off Hamilton’s pace with Nick Heidfeld back in 12th position. Points will be target today rather than a podium. |
| 13.46 | Mark Webber and David Coulthard line up eighth and tenth for Red Bull Renault and will be looking to take the challenge to Kubica as well as looking to keep 2009 Red Bull racer Sebastian Vettel in check. Vettel starts an impressive ninth in the Toro Rosso Ferrari and has really been in excellent form at his home Grand Prix. |
| 13.48 | Timo Glock starts 11th in the second Toyota ahead of Heidfeld and the Williams Toyota of Nico Rosberg. Williams have not been on form in recent events and Rosberg himself has not had a good run since a qualifying high at Monaco. Perhaps he can turn it around this afternoon? |
| 13.50 | Honda remain firmly in the lower mid-field with Jenson Button qualifying 14th for the team while team-mate Barrichello starts back in the 18th position. |
| 13.52 | Sebastien Bourdais has had no luck this weekend so far with various mechanical ailments on his Toro Rosso. However a small error in qualifying saw him unable to improve on 15th position ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams. |
| 13.54 | Nelson Piquet starts a disappointing 17th in the second Renault and from that far back on the grid can realistically only hope for a clean race to the chequered flag. Piquet starts ahead of Barrichello and the Force India duo of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella. |
| 13.56 | The drivers are all in the cars. It is dry and sunny and rain does not seem likely in the next 90 minutes. |
| 13.58 | With Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen all tied on 48 points, any slip up from the three main championship protagonists could prove costly by the end of the season. Kubica is just two points shy and is fourth in the standings. |
| 13.59 | The grid is starting to clear and the tyre warmers are coming off. |
| 14.00 | The parade lap is now underway with Hamilton leading the field around. |
| 14.01 | Most are on the hard tyre. Trulli, Vettel, Coulthard and some others further back on the soft. |
| 14.02 | Hamilton lines up on the pole ahead of Massa, Kovalainen, Trulli, Alonso, Raikkonen, Kubica, Webber, Sutil and Coulthard. |
| Lap 1 | The German Grand Prix is underway. It will take a few minutes for our timing to display the order... |
| Lap 1 | A clean start at the front with Massa defending from Kovalainen. |
| Lap 1 | Trulli lost ground at the hairpin. |
| Lap 1 | A great start from Kubica sho is fourth at the end of lap one. |
| Lap 2 | Hamilton leads Massa, Kovalainen, Kubica, Trulli, Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Webber, Glock. |
| Lap 2 | Barrichello passes Nakajima into the stadium. |
| Lap 4 | Kubica runs wide and is able to get back on in front of Trulli. |
| Lap 4 | Alonso is putting pressure on Trulli for fifth position. |
| Lap 4 | Alonso loses a position to Raikkonen after failing to make a pass on Trulli. |
| Lap 5 | Hamilton is pulling away with ease at the front. |
| Lap 6 | Coulthard was a big loser at the start as he started tenth and is now 14th. |
| Lap 6 | The closest battle at the moment is Trulli, Raikkonen and Alonso. |
| Lap 7 | Piquet is not making up much in the second Renault. He started 17th and runs 18th. |
| Lap 8 | Hamilton gets the gap over Massa to five seconds and Massa in turn is well clear of Kovalainen. |
| Lap 8 | Massa is lapping a second and a half slower than in qualifying with the same car... |
| Lap 9 | Button, Coulthard and Rosberg run nose to tail. |
| Lap 10 | Coulthard looks down the inside of Button into the hairpin but does not make the pass. |
| Lap 11 | Hamilton is flying and pulling seven-tenths a lap on Massa at the moment. |
| Lap 11 | The McLaren this weekend has a right hand side pod that is half covered. The left hand side has the normal full size intake. |
| Lap 12 | Raikkonen still runs sixth and is 20s behind Hamilton already. |
| Lap 13 | A poor lap from Massa who drops over a second on that lap alone. |
| Lap 14 | Coulthard has passed Button and now Rosberg is looking to pass too. |
| Lap 15 | Massa's lap times vary by a second or more on some laps and there is no traffic as yet. |
| Lap 15 | Alonso remains within a second of Raikkonen. |
| Lap 17 | Hamilton is now ten seconds clear of Massa. |
| Lap 18 | Nakajima spins the Williams and loses positions to Piquet and Sutil. Oh dear. |
| Lap 19 | Hamilton pits from the lead and takes a second set of hard tyres. |
| Lap 19 | Hamilton exits ahead of Trulli but then loses the position into turn two. |
| Lap 19 | Kubica also pitted on that lap from fourth position. |
| Lap 20 | Trulli and Alonso pit. |
| Lap 20 | So Trulli pitting was good news for Hamilton as he would have lost time. |
| Lap 21 | Massa pits and takes the soft tyre. |
| Lap 22 | Kovalainen and Vettel both pit. |
| Lap 22 | Kovalainen exits behind Glock and ahead of Heidfeld. He has to defend to keep the BMW behind. |
| Lap 23 | Raikkonen pits his Ferrari. |
| Lap 23 | So Kovalainen now has to get ahead of Glock who will be running some time yet I would imagine. |
| Lap 24 | Webber pits his Red Bull. Bourdais also in the pits. |
| Lap 24 | So Hamilton leads Massa after the first stops. |
| Lap 25 | Alonso is tenth and all over Vettel. |
| Lap 25 | Hamilton is still faster than Massa, despite the latter being on the soft tyre. Glock is third and has yet to pit and he is ahead of Kovalainen. |
| Lap 26 | Trulli lost position to Raikkonen in the pits. |
| Lap 28 | Heidfeld pits his BMW Sauber from fifth position and takes a set of softs. |
| Lap 29 | Fisichella and Button pit. |
| Lap 29 | Rosberg pits his Williams. |
| Lap 29 | Glock is now closing in on Massa for seconds. Glock has yet to pit but he is faster at the moment than the Ferrari. |
| Lap 30 | Glock now pits from third position and takes a second set of soft tyres. |
| Lap 30 | Glock exits ahead of Vettel. |
| Lap 31 | A good pass from Vettel on Glock into the hairpin. Glock's long first run did help him in the first stint though. |
| Lap 31 | Hamilton's pace at the front has dropped off by a second on this second stint as he manages the gap to Massa. |
| Lap 33 | Barrichello has just pitted and is now defending position from Button. |
| Lap 34 | Piquet runs in 12th position and has yet to pit. |
| Lap 34 | A disappointing race so far for Alonso who runs ninth and is making no impression on Glock. |
| Lap 35 | Nakajima runs wide but is able to continue. |
| Lap 36 | Hamilton leads by 12s and is happy to keep the gap at that as he starts to lap the slower runners. |
| Lap 36 | A big crash for Glock exiting the final turn. A right suspension failure sent him into teh wall hard. |
| Lap 36 | The safety car is out. |
| Lap 37 | A shame for Glock but it was clearly a right rear suspension failure. He was in eighth position. |
| Lap 37 | So the safety car will close up the field. |
| Lap 37 | Glock is out of the car. It was a heavy hit after spinning out of the final turn and hitting the inside wall on the pit straight. The car came to rest back on the other side of the circuit. |
| Lap 38 | Hamilton's 12s lead is now down to almost nothing from Massa, Kovalainen, Kubica, Raikkonen, Trulli, Vettel and Alonso. |
| Lap 38 | The pit lane is now open. |
| Lap 38 | The pits are open and most will pit. |
| Lap 39 | Hamilton stays out! Massa, Kubica and most of the rest pit. |
| Lap 39 | Most pit. Hamilton and Heidfeld did not as Webber's RB4 is smoking badly. |
| Lap 39 | So Hamilton leads but has pitted just one. ALonso got edged out by Vettel on the exit of the pit lane. |
| Lap 40 | The safety car is still out. Hamilton leads Heidfeld, Piquet, Massa, Kubica, Trulli, Vettel, Alonso and the smoking Webber. |
| Lap 40 | Webber runs in tenth position but wills oon retire I imagine. Button has not unlapped himself for some reason and is between Hamilton and Heidfeld. |
| Lap 41 | A quick pit for Nakajima. |
| Lap 42 | Webber pulls off. End of the day. |
| Lap 43 | The race is back underway... |
| Lap 42 | Alonso is all over Vettel. |
| Lap 42 | So the question now is how much gap can Hamilton pull before he has to pit. Massa downwards do not need to pit again. |
| Lap 43 | Alonso gets in the tow behind Vettel but cannot get the pass done. |
| Lap 44 | A nice pass by Kovalainen on Kubica in front of the Mercedes stand. |
| Lap 44 | Alonso is sliding back and seems angry as he is losing out to Raikkonen and Rosberg while trying to pass Vettel. |
| Lap 45 | Raikkonen now all over Vettel. |
| Lap 45 | So Raikkonen into eighth position after passing Vettel into the hairpin. |
| Lap 46 | Raikkonen now passes Trulli into the hairpin. His Ferrari is suddenly alive... |
| Lap 47 | Hamilton's lead over fourth placed Massa is 11s at the moment. He needs double that to pit and retain the advanatage. |
| Lap 47 | So the main battle is the gap between Hamilton and Massa and he is a second and a half a lap quicker at the moment. |
| Lap 48 | Massa runs in fourth and remains behind Piquet and is losing time by the lap to Hamilton. |
| Lap 49 | Raikkonen has now closed on Kubica and is looking for P6. |
| Lap 50 | Heidfeld still runs second and is keeping pace with Hamilton. |
| Lap 50 | Barrichello and Coulthard have got together. Coulthard has just turned in on the Honda and both need repairs. |
| Lap 51 | Hamilton pits from the lead. He has a 16s lead on Massa... |
| Lap 51 | So some strange thinking at McLaren this weekend. He is now behind Massa and team-mate Kovalainen. |
| Lap 51 | Hamilton is now right on Kovalainen and should pass soon. |
| Lap 52 | Not much of a fight from Kovalainen as Hamilton passes at turn four. |
| Lap 53 | Barrichello has retired after his collision with Coulthard. |
| Lap 54 | Haeidfeld pist from the lead. |
| Lap 54 | Heidfeld exits ahead of Kovalainen. |
| Lap 54 | So Piquet leads on a one stop strategy and is ahead of Massa who has Hamilton closing in fast as well. |
| Lap 55 | Just over three seconds cover Piquet, Massa and Hamilton. |
| Lap 55 | Hamilton is closing fast on Massa. He is over a second a lap faster. |
| Lap 56 | Piquet has a two second lead on Massa and Hamilton is all over Massa... |
| Lap 57 | Hamilton passes Massa into the hairpin. |
| Lap 57 | Some red mist from Massa as he tries to repass in front of the Mercedes stand and Hamilton just pushes him wide. |
| Lap 58 | Massa was not too smart there. He did not cover the inside into the hairpin and it was an open door. |
| Lap 58 | So Piquet now leads Hamilton and Massa. |
| Lap 59 | Alonso spins at the hairpin and loses further ground. |
| Lap 60 | Hamilton is now right on the back of Piquet. |
| Lap 60 | A nice pass into the hairpin from Hamilton and he now leads. |
| Lap 60 | Raikkonen passes Kubica exiting the hairpin and the following turns. Smart driving from Piquet who resisted, but not too hard. |
| Lap 61 | Piquet now runs second and will be looking to keep Massa behind him for what would be an astonishing result for Renault. |
| Lap 62 | Heidfeld runs in fourth position and is right with Massa. A good race! |
| Lap 63 | Piquet seems safe in second position at the moment as he is keeping the gap to Massa at three seconds. Heidfeld is right with Massa. |
| Lap 63 | Trulli runs off track at turn nine and Vettel is able to pass and is now eighth. |
| Lap 65 | So a clever drive from Piquet who used a one stop to perfection and the safety car came out at the right time for him. |
| Lap 66 | Hamilton is on target for the race win from Piquet, Massa, Heidfeld, Kovalainen. |
| Lap 67 | Lewis Hamilton wins the German Grand Prix and now leads the championship from Massa by four points. A great result for Piquet in second and well done to Heidfeld for a smart drive in the BMW. |
| Lap 67 | Kovalainen is fifth ahead of Raikkonen, Kubica and Vettel. Trulli is out of the points in ninth ahead of Rosberg and Alonso. |
