NUERBURGRING, Germany (AP) ― Pushed hard by a driver who may become his teammate, Sebastian Vettel finally won at home in Germany in a race that featured some scary moments Sunday.

The three-time defending Formula One champion surged ahead in his Red Bull by the first curve and then had to resist the challenge of two fast Lotus cars. He took the checkered flag a second ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who is being mentioned as Vettel’s possible future colleague.

“It was a tough race. It was one of the toughest for a long time,” Vettel said after his fourth victory of the season. “I am happy the race was 60 laps and not 61 or 62, the Lotus were incredibly fast and pushing very hard, and Kimi was putting a lot of pressure on me at the end ― he was a bit quicker.

“It’s incredible to win at home, a great relief. It’s sweet to win here, but at the end it’s just another race. I’m happy to take (the) win and score some points.”

Vettel had been without a win in Europe for 22 months and ― more obscurely ― had never won a race in July.

Vettel’s 30th career victory extended his championship lead to 34 points over Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who finished fourth. Raikkonen moved up to third, 41 points behind Vettel.

There were no tire blowouts but the race had its share of bizarre incidents, including a loose wheel flying through the air in the pit lane and an abandoned car drifting on its own down the track. A cameraman fractured a shoulder and cracked a rib in the wheel accident.

Third place went to Romain Grosjean, Raikkonen’s Lotus teammate.

Raikkonen went for his third and final pit stop with 10 laps remaining and overtook Grosjean five laps later, on team orders.

“Maybe we should have gambled, the tires were good,” Raikkonen said about his late pit stop. “I wonder if we should have gone to the end.”