Lewis Hamilton extended his lead over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg at the top of the world championship standings with victory at the German Grand Prix.
Hamilton seized the advantage at the start of the Formula One race from pole-sitter Rosberg, who drove an underwhelming race in front of his home fans.
The Briton crossed the line 6.9 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo who was on the podium for the second race in a row on his 100th grand prix appearance.
Ricciardo's team mate Max Verstappen finished third, his fourth top-three result.
The team's strong finish was their first double-podium result since last year's Hungarian Grand Prix and moves them ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' standings behind dominant Mercedes.
"This is two weekends in a row now with a podium," said Ricciardo. "So it's awesome to close out the first part of the season."
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, who covered the 67 laps on the 4.574km track in 1 hour, 30:44.200 minutes.
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.
It was Hamilton's sixth victory in the last seven races and fourth in succession. The 49th win 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.
"It's been a hard slog for everyone in the team, for the whole year and obviously with ups and downs and the difficulties that we've had," said Hamilton, who trailed Rosberg by 43 points after May's Spanish Grand Prix.
"The real strength that we've shown, through and through, these last races has been inspiring for me."
Ferrari's form has faded over recent races and the best Sebastian Vettel could manage on his first appearance for the team on his home soil was a distant fifth ahead of stablemate Kimi Raikkonen.
Formula One now heads into its annual summer break before reconvening for the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28.
Reuters
