Vertappen WINS the German Grand Prix as Mercedes COLLAPSE

Max Verstappen wins the 2019 German Grand Prix amid rain-soaked chaos as Vettel drives from the back to second place and Mercedes descend in to chaos.

The German Grand Prix promised to be interesting as Sebastian Vettel started from the back in his home Grand Prix, but no one could have predicted the excitement, and chaos, intermittent downpours would cause.

Hamilton, suffering from a cold, took off at the start and carved out an impressive lead, but as rain cause chaos Hamilton conspired to slide in to the barrier, illegally enter the pit lane to mend the subsequent damage, get a five-second penalty for doing so, and end up finishing 11th, although that was upgraded to ninth after the Alfa Romeos were penalised for a clutch issue.

Bottas suffered similar ignominy, sliding off when pushing hard to catch Stroll and ending his race. Mercedes ended up with just two points, and even then only because of the Alfa issue, and their normal super-click pit operation descended in to a chaotic mess too.

Through it all, Verstappen stayed focused, and despite managing a full 360 spin on track in the rain and failing to make it off the grid properly at the start, prevailed to take a stunning win for Red Bull.

From Vettel, starting at the back of the grid, came a peerless drive, carving his way without drama from the back of the grid to make a couple of sweeping passes in the closing laps to take second place and deliver a convincing statement that his hunger, and skills are still intact. Unfortunately for Ferrari, Leclerc fell victim to the rain and crashed out.

And on a day to remember for Red Bull, and Honda, Kvyat drove a grown-up race to take third place, completing a 24-hour period in which he also became a dad.

It was a cracking Grand Prix.