German Grand Prix: A perfect day for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a perfect day at the German Grand Prix as he cruised to an unchallenged victory in and extend his lead over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg at the top of the Formula 1 world championship standings ahead of the month long summer break.

Hamilton seized the advantage at the start from pole-sitter Rosberg, who drove an underwhelming race in front of his home fans, and was never headed. The Briton crossed the line 6.9 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, on the podium for the second race in a row on his 100th grand prix appearance.

It was Hamilton’s sixth victory in the last seven races and fourth in succession. The 49th of the reigning champion's career left him two adrift of Frenchman Alain Prost’s mark of 51. He now leads Rosberg by 19 points in the standings with nine rounds of a record 21-race season remaining.

“Get in there Lewis, great work mate. Beautiful start, fantastically managed,” the Briton’s Mercedes team said to him over the radio on the slowing down lap.

“Fantastic job guys, awesome pitstops and just throughout the weekend as always, well deserved,” Hamilton replied.

On the podium the reigning F1 world champion added, "A big thank you to everyone who has come out. To see so many people here is great. What a race, what a fantastic start. It was just about keeping it cool."

"This is a very proud position to be in and thank you to the team, who did a fantastic job. I didn't make any mistakes so in my heart I'm happy with what I did. Yesterday was not perfect but you learn from those things."

Max Verstappen finished third behind Red Bull teammate Ricciardo, it was the teenager's fourth top-three result, to give Red Bull their first double rostrum in over a year.

Ricciardo said afterwards, "That is two weeks in a row I've been on the podium and it is great to have the race back here in Germany.

"This is the first double podium for us in over a year and it is awesome to close out the first part of the season like this.

"My mum and dad are here and it is great to have their support. I see a few Australian flags, and I appreciate them and the support.

"It was a race of strategy first and on the super softs I was much more comfortable. We couldn't win but second and third is not too bad," said Ricciardo.

Verstappen summed up his afternoon, "We had a good start, from there on the pace was pretty good. I was enjoying it. We chose to do two different strategies and double podium is great for the team."

Rosberg, who had looked unbeatable after topping every practice session, was only fourth after falling back at the start and collecting a five-second time-penalty for forcing Verstappen off the track.

The German who led the championship until Hungary was clearly disappointed after the race, and told media, "It is a tough one, really difficult," Rosberg tells Sky Sports. "The start went completely wrong, none of it was good. There was a lot of wheelspin, it caught me by surprise."

When dueling with Verstappen, Rosberg was adjudged by the race stewards of running the Red Bull driver off the track when he out barked him into the hairpin.

""I was very surprised to get the penalty," admitted Rosberg. "That cost me dearly. It (being held for longer than needed) didn't make a difference as I couldn't challenge the Red Bulls after the penalty. When a day goes completely wrong all those things come together.

"Being 19 points is not tough, tough is losing the race in the way I did and that will take some time to digest," concluded the German.

Sebastian Vettel was fifth on his first appearance in Ferrari colours on home soil, crossing the line 32.5 seconds adrift of Hamilton, with team mate Kimi Raikkonen capping an almost inconspicuous and disappointing weekend for the Italian team in sixth.

Vettel told reporters, "We are not where we want to be and clearly there are a lot of things we need to do better. I'm trying to do what I can.

"The race pace was not bad, but not good enough. We struggled a bit with the balance, and I was sliding about a bit too much."

Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh for Force India, ahead of Jenson Button who brought home points for McLaren in eighth. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was ninth ahead of Sergio Perez who handed Force India a double-points finish with 10th.

Formula 1 now heads into its annual summer break before reconvening for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The result at Hockenheim gave Hamilton, who trailed Rosberg by as many as 43 points following the Spanish Grand Prix in May, the crucial psychological edge in the title battle heading into the second half of the season.

The Briton won at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit last year and will enter the second half of the season as the man to beat and 2016 title favourite.

* Provisional results