Hamilton in control as he extends F1 title lead in Germany

Lewis Hamilton roared to victory at the German Grand Prix to open up a 19-point lead in the F1 drivers' championship with his sixth win in seven races.

Once again the British driver left his team-mate Nico Rosberg for dead at the start and had the race under control from the very first corner.

Hamilton is riding "a tidal surge of momentum", says Kevin Eason of The Times. "Rosberg, who slumped to finish fourth from pole position, appears caught in a riptide and in need of a life ring for his floundering championship challenge."

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The turnaround has been nothing short of spectacular. After the Spanish Grand Prix, when the two Mercedes cars collided, Rosberg led Hamilton by 43 points.

But in the space of just seven races, Hamilton has turned that huge deficit into a 19-point lead. "It now seems hard to imagine anyone but Hamilton hoisting the drivers' trophy at the end of the season, such was the psychological blow that he landed on Rosberg in Hockenheim," says Eason.

Hamilton now has 49 Grand Prix victories to his name and seems sure to reach the 50 mark this season - he could well overtake Alain Prost, with 51 wins, to go into second place on the all-time winners list.

"On the other side of the Mercedes garage, these are bleak times for Rosberg," says Daniel Johnson of the Daily Telegraph. "A fine driver, as his superb pole lap here on Saturday demonstrated, he is being made to look ordinary by the extraordinary Hamilton."

Rosberg's only hope appears to be that after the summer break, Hamilton will have to start one race from the back of grid, because of a penalty for using too many engine parts, adds the journalist: "That should give him the chance to close the gap and regain some momentum."

Away from the track, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone's mother-in-law has been freed after being kidnapped in Brazil last month.

Aparecida Schunck, whose daughter, Fabiana Flosi, married Ecclestone in 2012, was taken hostage in Sao Paulo ten days ago with the kidnappers demanding a £27.8m ransom.

She was freed after police operation on Sunday and no ransom was paid.