The 2010 German Grand Prix was initially in doubt after the government of Baden-Württemberg and the town of Hockenheim withdrew funding. An agreement was reached in September 2009 to keep the event at the Hockenheimring until 2018. Before the race, Lewis Hamilton led the Drivers' Championship with 145 points, twelve ahead of teammate Jenson Button, who was five points ahead of Mark Webber. McLaren led the Constructors' Championship with 278 points, followed by Red Bull (249) and Ferrari (165). Alonso had won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, while Massa and Robert Kubica had finished second, and Nico Rosberg, Massa and Kubica had taken third-place finishes.
Tyre supplier Bridgestone brought four types of tyre to the race: two dry compounds (super-soft "options" and hard "primes") and two wet-weather compounds (intermediate and full wet). Bridgestone selected these compounds in an attempt to improve the excitement of Formula One after significant degradation and graining were observed during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in the final session to clinch his sixth pole position of the season (and his third consecutive) with a lap of 1:13.791. Although he was happy to start on the pole, he stated his lap was not "100% perfect" as he drove off the circuit after pushing hard. Vettel was joined on the grid's front row by Alonso, who was 0.002 seconds behind. Massa took third despite running wide on his final timed lap, while Webber qualified fourth after running wide at the Nordkurve. The McLaren drivers, Button and Hamilton, lined up on the third row.
Massa made a fast start and passed both Vettel and Alonso around the outside to take the lead. Vettel had poor acceleration from his starting position and drove right towards Alonso in an attempt to put him toward the pit lane wall, but Alonso maintained the racing line to take second. After the first lap, the order was Massa, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, and Button.
Alonso and Massa traded fastest times in the early stages. After a sequence of pit stops, Massa began to struggle with tyre temperatures. On lap 48, a radio transmission from Rob Smedley, Massa's race engineer, was intercepted. Smedley told Massa: "OK, so, Fernando (Alonso) is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?"
Massa was slow to accelerate leaving the turn six hairpin on lap 49, giving Alonso the opening to take the lead. Smedley was later heard thanking and apologising to Massa over the radio. Alonso maintained the lead for the remainder of the race to secure the 23rd victory of his career. Massa finished second, 4.1 seconds behind, and Vettel was third. Hamilton secured fourth, with teammate Button in fifth and Webber in sixth.
Ferrari's use of team orders resulted in a fine of $100,000 by the race stewards for breaching Article 39.1 of the FIA Sporting Regulations and Article 151c of the sporting code. While the stewards decided the race result would remain unchanged, the team was referred to the FIA World Motor Sport Council. At a meeting in September, the tribunal upheld the fine but decided no further action would be taken. The incident sparked significant controversy; Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called it "the clearest team order I've ever seen," and BBC Sport pundit and former team owner Eddie Jordan described the orders as "unlawful." In December, the FIA announced a reversion on the rule barring team orders for the 2011 season onwards.
The result extended Hamilton's lead in the World Drivers' Championship to 14 points over Button. Alonso's victory put him within 13 points of Vettel and Webber, who were tied for third. McLaren maintained their lead in the World Constructors' Championship, while Red Bull and Ferrari slightly reduced their respective deficits.
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