Lewis Hamilton earned his blockbuster wages on Sunday with a German Grand Prix victory that will go down in the annals of the sport and got back to the top of the F1 ranking.
The four-time Formula One world champion, now the winner of 66 races, struggled to keep his emotions in check on an afternoon that saw him rise from 14th on the starting grid to finish first, Reuters reported on Monday.
“Today I feel like I drove the best that I can remember,” declared the Briton, who had vowed to race as if his life depended on it after his Mercedes broke down in Saturday qualifying.
“It’s been the most emotional day. Up and down,” added the 33-year-old, who was summoned to see stewards more than an hour after the end of the race for a pitlane infringement and given a reprimand.
Hamilton had started the weekend with the announcement of a new two-year contract worth a reported $52.55 million a year.
He had also arrived in Hockenheim on the back of a home defeat at Silverstone to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had boasted about beating his rival in Britain and taking the British flag back to Marenello.
On Sunday, with a delighted Mercedes-Benz chief executive Dieter Zetsche watching, Hamilton replied in style to turn an eight point deficit to Vettel — who crashed while leading — into a 17 point lead.
The rain that brought chaos in the last 20 laps helped but Hamilton saw that as his opportunity to shine, and made the most of it to lead team mate Valtteri Bottas in a Mercedes one-two finish.
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