Mark Webber wins the British GP 2010

"Not bad for a number 2 driver"

Mark Webber has won an action packed British GP, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel and both Ferraris faltered.

Sebastian Vettel qualified in pole position for the British GP, in front of full grandstands. He was joined on the front row by team-mate Mark Webber. Fernando Alonso qualified in third for Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren. McLaren did not have a good Friday as the blown diffuser (similar to Red Bull’s) they’d fitted to their car didn’t bring the results expected. Jenson Button was disappointed to qualify down in 14^th place.

The start of the race was action packed as Webber fought to get in front into the first corner, while Vettel took a trip off track and it became clear after a couple of corners that he had picked up a puncture, possibly from contact with Hamilton’s McLaren. Alonso did not enjoy such a great start as he lost places at the start to Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg. When his team-mate Felipe Massa made a move to get past him they banged wheels which gave Massa a puncture. Both Vettel and Massa had to pit, dropping them to the back of the field. Button had a good start, getting up to eighth in the opening lap.

The leaders managed to pull out a lead of eight seconds after six laps, while a bit of a train built up behind Kubica including Rosberg, Alonso, Schumacher, Button and Kamui Kobayashi. Di Grassi was the first retirement, returning to the pits on lap 10. Schumacher was the first scheduled stop for tyres, stopping on lap 12. Over the next few laps many more cars streamed into the pits. On track, Alonso and Kubica were enjoying a close battle, with Alonso chasing Kubica. It got so close that Alonso had to cut across a club corner, overtaking Kubica in the process. He did not give the position back and Alonso was handed a drive through penalty for it after Kubica retired on lap 20.

The safety car was deployed on lap 28 to allow marshals to clear up debris which had come of Pedro de la Rosa’s car (who later retired). The safety car came in on lap 31. The safety car benefitted the likes of Vettel and Alonso who’d dropped further back due to punctures/penalties. Vettel managed to get himself into the points but Alonso was not as fortunate. Massa took to the pits unexpectedly on lap 40 after a spin and flat-spotting his tyres. Because it happened on the last couple of corners, Massa had not informed his pit crew that he was coming in, leading to a frantic scramble to get a new set of tyres on the car. Alonso concluded a dire afternoon for Ferrari by picking up a puncture on the last couple of laps and having to pit again.

When Webber took the chequered flag, he was heard over the radio saying “not bad for a number two driver” suggesting that the tension is growing between the two Red Bull drivers. Hamilton came over the line second for McLaren saying the result was a “reflection of the hard work the team put in”. Rosberg was an unexpected third saying the result was down to “a great job from the team and the strategy” and that the atmosphere was “fantastic”. Button made up ten places to finish in fourth, calling it a “great race” but he was unable to challenge for third as he had to save fuel. Barrichello was a great fifth for Williams; with Kobayashi backing up his promising result in Valencia with a sixth place here. Vettel, Sutil, Schumacher and Hulkenberg were the other point scorers.  Alguersuari, de la Rosa, Kubica and di Grassi were the four retirements of the race.

The battle at the front is heating up, with McLaren still leading both championships, but Red Bull will be determined not to let them get too far ahead. The next race is the German GP at Hockenheim in two weeks time.

Posted by Hannah Hough - Follow her on twitter @hannahhou.

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