Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil crashes with his car in the first corner after the start of the German F1 Grand Prix at the Hockenheim racing circuit, July 20, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Williams Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil crashes with his car in the first corner after the start of the German F1 Grand Prix at the Hockenheim racing circuit, July 20, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

It was looking like it could be another a 1-2 for Mercedes as Hamilton quickly worked his way through the field. The Briton hit Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari to overtake both the Finn and Ricciardo in a brave move at the hairpin on lap 13. A piece of Raikkonen's front plate flew into the air.

On lap 30, Hamilton tried to overtake Button on the hairpin but damaged his left-front wing and that proved critical in finishing third rather than second.

"I did as good as I could. It was hard to get through the pack safely and I had a little bit of a collision with Jenson," Hamilton said.

"I thought he was going to open the door which he has done a couple of times lately but that was my bad judgment."

Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat retired on lap 46 when his car burst into flames. The Russian was visibly annoyed, hitting a barrier in frustration.

Adrian Sutil of Sauber spun on lap 50 of 67 and stalled in the middle of the start-finish straight. The race director had to make a big decision on whether to bring out the safety car, which would have pulled Rosberg back to the field, or let the race continue, and he chose the latter even though it took a couple of laps before they moved the car.

"That would have made it more difficult," a relieved Rosberg acknowledged.

It has been a remarkable couple of weeks since the German's first non-finish of the season at the British Grand Prix. The 29-year-old married his girlfriend, watched Germany win the World Cup, signed a contract extension with Mercedes, and he has now won his home GP for his fourth victory of the season.

Rosberg had previously not finished higher than eighth place at Hockenheim, in 2010. The best he managed at a German GP was fourth at the Nurburgring the year before that