(REUTERS) – LEWIS Hamilton raced from 14th to first to seize a “miracle” German Grand Prix victory in a Mercedes one-two on Sunday and retake the Formula One championship lead from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who crashed.

Vettel, now 17 points behind the Briton after starting eight ahead, led his home race from pole position until rain caused chaos in the closing laps, with the German sliding off and into the barriers.

Hamilton, the reigning world champion, took the chequered flag for a record-equalling fourth German Grand Prix win, ahead of his Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

“I’ve never had a race like this,” said the four-times champion, who was summoned to stewards after the race for a pitlane infringement but escaped with a reprimand and the victory intact.

“Today I feel like I drove the best that I can remember driving. I didn’t make any mistakes.”

It was the 66th win of his F1 career, and Mercedes’ 80th, and minutes after the finish, the skies opened with an array of thunder and lightning and a torrential downpour that would have stopped any race.

“Miracles do happen, mate,” Hamilton’s race engineer Pete Bonnington told him over the radio after a slow-burner that turned into one of the great comebacks of the Briton’s already stellar career.

Hamilton, who threw himself across the pitlane wall into the arms of his mechanics and also got a bear-hug from delighted Mercedes-Benz boss Dieter Zetsche, seemed about as stunned as anyone.

“I really feel that the rain has come down and just washed away any negativity and its a glorious day,” Hamilton said, his voice wobbling. “It couldn’t have been a better day for me and one that I will always remember.”