Mercedes driver lewis Hamilton surged into the lead at the start of the German Grand Prix on Sunday and held on to win the last race before the summer break and increase his championship lead.
Hamilton, second on the grid, was faster off the mark than teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg, who started from pole but dropped to fourth before the first corner. Hamilton, a three-time Formula One champion who has won the title the last two seasons, now takes a 19-point lead over Rosberg into the four-week break.
Hamilton has won six of the past seven races and now has 49 career victories.
Daniel Ricciardo was second, ahead of Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, the first time these two Red Bull drivers shared the podium. Red Bull pushed past Ferrari into second place in the constructors' standings.
Rosberg also picked up a five-second penalty for pushing Verstappen off the course and had to settle for fourth, after winning the Hockenheim race two years ago from pole.
Sebastian Vettel finished fifth Sunday, ahead of Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
The next race is the Belgian Grand Prix on Aug. 28.
Hamilton got off to a super start, moving past Rosberg, who also saw the two Red Bulls leave him behind. Verstappen overtook Ricciardo from the outside as they raced into the first corner but Ricciardo later regained the second place to finish 6.9 seconds behind Hamilton.
Good day for Force India
Sahara Force India drivers returned with double points with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finishing seventh and 10th respectively at the German Grand Prix.
Germany's Hulkenberg began the race at eighth and overtook Williams driver Valtteri Bottas towards the end to finish at seventh and grab six points for Force India at his home turf. His team-mate Perez ended the race at 10th and took one point.