Felipe Massa conceded defeat at Hockenheim today and admits that Lewis Hamilton was out reach, despite gaining an advantage over the Briton as a result of the safety car.

Kimi Raikkonen had little to offer in the way of explanation for his lacklustre performance in Hockenheim.

The Ferrari driver struggled with the handling and balance of his F2008 throughout the weekend and qualified a lowly sixth place, behind the McLaren pairing and crucially his team-mate Felipe Massa.

While the critics were busy writing him off – and out of Formula One – Renault chief Pat Symonds remained steadfast: one good result and Nelson Piquet’s confidence would sky-rocket, along with his career.

Toyota chairman and team principal Tadashi Yamashina provides an update on Timo Glock after his horrific crash at Hockenheim today.

The German suffered a right rear tyre failure which pitched him into the pit-wall.

Lewis on a roll, Ferrari’s title hopes unravel

As if the world needed any further reminding of his status as a champion-in-waiting, Lewis Hamilton took the long way around the Hockenheimring to victory on Sunday, but still managed to crush the opposition without breaking a sweat, staking his claim on the drivers’ title in the process.

Lewis Hamilton is all set to win a second Grand Prix in a row having secured pole position for the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander Von Deutschland yesterday. His McLaren team have been dominant in all official sessions ahead of the race, and look favourite to take victory today around the 4.574km Hockenheim circuit.

‘Catch me if you can’, was the gauntlet that Lewis Hamilton laid down to his rivals as he cantered to pole position in Hockenheim with a lap which was, by his own admission, “pretty easy going”.

Felipe Massa has dismissed claims that he needed to recover from his disastrous showing in the wet at Silverstone a fortnight ago.

The Brazilian spun no fewer than five times in the wet and trailed home plum last prompting speculation about his future with the Scuderia.

Not for the first time this season Felipe Massa out-classed his world champion team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying.

Whether it was the wind, the overcast conditions, or the presence of Michael Schumacher at the Hockenheimring today, Raikkonen was all over the place, as he battled to get his F2008 pointing in the right direction.

Toyota and Renault spiced up the championship battle in qualifying with Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso splitting off Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen from the front-runners.