Vettel: "I had it in my hands"

Sebastian Vettel says he felt he had the German Grand Prix "in his hands" up until the point he crashed out of the German Grand Prix at the Sachskurve in the stadium section. Rain had started falling when Vettel slid off the track and into the barriers in front of the German support.

Speaking after getting back to the paddock, Vettel explained that he felt the mistake was a small one and that up until that point, it was all under control at the front.

"I don't think it was a huge mistake. It was a huge impact on the race because we retired there but it's not like tonight I'll have difficulty falling asleep because of what I've done wrong.

"I think it's disappointing because up to that point everything was sweet, but we didn't need the rain.

"It was just one of those moments. It was my mistake so apologies to the team they did everything right.

"I had it in my hands - small mistake, big disappointment."

His mistake means that he loses the championship lead to Lewis Hamilton after the Mercedes driver fought back brilliantly from 14th position to score a vital victory in the championship battle.

A Mercedes one-two also sees the constructor standings flip back around with Mercedes back in front of Ferrari by 8 points.