2019 German Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton leads Bottas by 39 points. Mercedes leads Ferrari by 164 in the Constructors’. Both championships will remain led by the current leaders regardless of this weekend’s result.

Previous race

Hamilton won at Silverstone for a record sixth time at his home race, equalling Alain Prost’s record for the most wins at a single Grand Prix. He set the fastest lap on the final lap running the hardest available tyre — a compound he had used for most of the race. Vettel locked up and crashed into the back of Verstappen at Vale corner while battling for third, earning a 10-second penalty and finishing 16th.

Car upgrades

Mercedes run a special one-off livery this weekend to mark their 125th year competing in motorsport and their 200th Formula One start. Racing Point bring a two-step upgrade package. Williams also introduce upgrades. Haas are running split car setups for the second consecutive race after the British GP inter-team collision, with Magnussen’s car carrying additional upgrades.

Penalties

Vettel is required to start from the back of the grid for fitting a third set of control electronics. He failed to set a Q1 time within the 107% requirement but has been permitted to race at the stewards’ discretion; the penalty makes no difference to his starting position.

Practice

Vettel was fastest in FP1 ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton; a brief red flag was caused by a car failure for Magnussen. FP2 saw Leclerc fastest again, Vettel just over a tenth behind in second, with Hamilton third. Gasly crashed on the exit of turn 16 during FP2.