Hamilton had been coasting to victory at Hockenheim, untroubled for the opening 35 laps of the 67-lap race after making the perfect start from pole position.

But the nature of the day altered when Timo Glock was involved in a spectacular shunt which resulted in the introduction of the safety car and the erosion of Hamilton's comfortable 12-second lead.

When the pit lane re-opened, 11 drivers dived in for fresh rubber, taking on fuel until the end, but remarkably Hamilton was not one of them.

McLaren felt the safety car would come in sooner than it did and their strategy almost backfired and cost Hamilton the win.

When the safety car finally departed, Hamilton was asked to open up an impossible 23-second cushion, the time needed to pit for a second time and still retain the lead, in just nine laps.

It was never going to happen and when Hamilton did pit again his lead was just 13 seconds, relegating him to fifth and seemingly with little chance of victory.

But first team-mate Heikki Kovalainen obligingly let him through on lap 52, then BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld made his second stop soon after, promoting Hamilton to third.

The 23-year-old then reeled in Felipe Massa, brilliantly passing the Ferrari under braking into the hairpin prior to bullying his title rival into running wide on lap 57.

Three laps later mission impossible was completed when Hamilton made the same move at the same part of the circuit on an unlikely leader in Nelson Piquet as the Renault driver benefited from a one-stop strategy.

After chalking up back-to-back wins for the first time in 13 months and opening up a four-point gap over Massa in the title race, Hamilton said: "What happened was not planned.

"I would have much preferred an easy, comfortable afternoon out in front. But it didn't work that way.

"The team opted for me to stay out. I guess they thought I could pull out a gap, but it was a 23-second gap I needed and I only had seven laps or something.

"I don't know how that worked, but they said they were comfortable with where we were."

For Piquet, it was undoubtedly the result of his career, especially holding off fellow Brazilian Massa in the closing stages to finish runner-up.

Behind the leading trio came Heidfeld, followed by Finns Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari.

David Coulthard and Jenson Button could only manage 13th and 17th for Red Bull and Honda respectively.