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Lewis Hamilton overtook Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet in the closing stages to win a thrilling German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The British McLaren driver won his second successive race to take sole possession of the lead in the drivers' championship, four points ahead of Ferrari's Massa.

Renault's Piquet, operating a one-stop strategy, claimed his first podium finish in Formula One in second, with Massa third and Kimi Raikkonen sixth.

Despite setting a blistering pace throughout, Hamilton nearly lost the race thanks to a tactical blunder by his team.

A big crash involving Timo Glock brought the safety car out but Hamilton, who was leading, opted not to take a pit stop and as a consequence was relegated to fourth after he pitted later in the race.

However, Hamilton used his superior pace to overtake Heikki Kovalained, Massa and Piquet, all at the same hairpin, to secure a magnificent victory.

"I didn't plan on doing that. I'd have much preferred an easy, comfortable afternoon out front," he said.

"Overall it was a very, very good weekend. It's got to be the best weekend up to now," added Hamilton. "I think that we're really on top of our game right now."

Polesitter Hamilton led from pole position and immediately built a commanding advantage over Massa, while world champion Raikkonen continued to struggle with his set up and languished in the lower points positions.

The 23-year-old seemed set for a routine win before Glock's crash just after half distance changed everything.

The German's Toyota suffered suspension failure entering the start-finish straight and smashed into the pit wall. Glock was taken to hospital, although Toyota said he had no visible injuries, and his retirement prompted the safety car to come out.

While the other front-runners all pitted at the first opportunity, McLaren bizarrely decided to keep Hamilton out. Massa emerged from his stop and caught up with the safety car, just 50 metres off the leader who still had to come in.

Hamilton proved unable to build a sufficient gap and emerged from his stop in fourth behind Piquet, Massa and team-mate Kovalainen with 16 laps remaining.

The Briton proved to be a myth the claim that there is no overtaking in Formula One, streaking past all three men and taking a huge step towards a first world championship.

Hamilton moves on to 58 championship points, four clear of Massa, seven ahead of Raikkonen and 10 ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica, who was seventh.

Kubica's BMW team-mate Nick Heidfeld was fourth, while Sebastian Vettel took the final points position for Toro Rosso.

David Coulthard had to settle for 13th following a collision with Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who retired after the incident. Jenson Button was the last finisher in 17th.