The victory was Hamilton's fourth of the season, second in a row and eighth of his F1 career.

The 23-year-old Hamilton was dominating the race when he made an interesting decision that almost cost him the race.

Englishman Lewis Hamilton held a 16.9-second margin over Ferrari's Felipe Massa with 31 laps to go. But that lead was erased when a Timo Glock crash deployed the safety car.

A majority of the leaders took advantage of the safety car to come down pit road for their final stops. Hamilton, Nick Heidfeld and Nelson Piquet Jr. decided to stay on the track. They took over the top-three spots, respectively.

Before this decision, it seemed like Hamilton had the race all wrapped up. But now it was anyone's race.

"I would have much preferred to have come in earlier (for my second pit stop) but the way it worked out I knew I had a lot of work to do. They let me stay out and I just had to push hard, as hard as I could," said Hamilton.

The race went back to green conditions with 25 laps to go. Hamilton put some distance between himself and Heidfeld on the restart. But Hamilton had to build a huge lead with his final stop yet to come.

Hamilton gave up the first position with 17 laps left to make his final pit stop. He rejoined the field in fifth behind teammate Heikki Kovalainen. With 13 laps to go, Heidfeld took his final stop.

Piquet Jr. now found himself leading the race. The Heidelberg, Germany resident was on a one-stop strategy. Meanwhile, Hamilton was quickly making his way back to the front. And Hamilton got around Massa for second with 10 laps left.

Would Piquet Jr. be able to hold off Hamilton for a surprise win?

Hamilton was quick to shoot down any hopes that Piquet Jr. had. Hamilton cut Piquet Jr.'s margin from 2.1 seconds to 1.1 seconds in just one lap. The gap kept closing.

The inevitable pass came with seven laps remaining, as Hamilton got the best of Piquet Jr. at the hairpin.

Hamilton pulled away and cruised to victory. Piquet Jr. held off Massa to take second. Heidfeld and Kovalainen completed the top-five.

The win gives Hamilton the lead in the point standings. Massa drops to second and trails Hamilton by four points. Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the race in sixth, settles into third and trails the leader by seven points.

The next race in the series is set for Sunday, August 3rd at Hungaroring.