Mark Webber responded to the Red Bull front wing controversy in thebest way imaginable by taking a commanding British Grand Prix victoryahead of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button.Polesitter Sebastian Vettel's chances of victory were ruined by afirst-lap puncture, although he recovered to seventh, and there wasfurther controversy over stewarding decisions after a contentiouspenalty for Fernando Alonso left the Ferrari outside the points.
Webber made a much better start than his team-mate and reached Copsefirst, despite Vettel's best efforts to squeeze him. Vettel thenlurched off the road at Becketts with a right rear puncture,potentially the result of a slight touch from Hamilton's McLaren at thefirst corner.
Felipe Massa was also trundling back to the pits with flailingrubber - he had been side by side with his slow-starting Ferrariteam-mate Alonso through the first corner and wheel banging at Beckettsleft the Brazilian with a puncture as well.
Webber therefore led from Hamilton, with this pair rapidly droppingquick-starter Robert Kubica (Renault) in third, who had Rosberg'sMercedes and Alonso all over the back of him.
Pitting slightly earlier than Kubica did not work for Alonso,whereas running a little longer did the trick for Rosberg. Eager not tolose more time, Alonso went down the outside of Kubica into Vale on lap17, and completed the pass by nipping over the kerbs and cutting thefirst apex of Club.
He then sprinted away after Rosberg, while Kubica was assured thatAlonso would be ordered to let him back through. That became a mootpoint three laps later though, when Kubica retired with a differentialproblem.
The stewards therefore ruled that Alonso should take a drive-throughpenalty, a decision announced just before the safety car came out sothat debris could be cleared following contact between Adrian Sutil(Force India) and Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) that left chunks of thelatter's rear wing deposited on various straights. With Alonso havingto take his penalty immediately after the restart, he tumbled straightto the midfield.
The safety car was a lifeline for Vettel, who had made littleprogress up to that point, but then started carving through the trafficwith a string of spectacular passes, including one on MichaelSchumacher. Sutil - who had also put a bold move on Schumacher afterthe restart - proved Vettel's toughest rival, and it took many laps oftough battling before the Red Bull driver finally muscled through totake seventh on the penultimate lap.
Far away from this excitement, Webber delivered a masterclass at thefront of the field. Hamilton managed to tag along until the pitstops,but thereafter Webber was unstoppable, reeling off fastest lapswhenever required and leading by 6s before easing off at the end.
Rosberg returned Mercedes to the podium with a strong run to third,despite losing a barge board when sweeping round the outside of theyet-to-stop Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso mid-race. The Germanfinished just ahead of Button, who surged through from 14th to fourththanks to a great first lap and staying out much longer than mostbefore his tyre change.
Rubens Barrichello gave Williams its second straight top fivefinish, with Kamui Kobayashi following him home for Sauber's bestresult of the year.
By the time Vettel was clear of Sutil that pack was too far ahead toreach, so he had to settle for seventh, followed by countrymen Sutil,Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg.
Alonso's race got even worse when he sustained a puncture in a brushwith Tonio Liuzzi's Force India, leaving him 14th, one place ahead ofMassa, who needed a further set of new tyres after spinning on the exitof Luffield late on. PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
52 laps; 306.747km;
Weather: Sunny.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h24:38.200
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1.360
3. Rosberg Mercedes + 21.307
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 21.986
5. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 31.456
6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 32.171
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 36.734
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 40.932
9. Schumacher Mercedes + 41.599
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 42.012
11. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 42.459
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 47.627
13. Petrov Renault + 59.374
14. Alonso Ferrari + 1:02.385
15. Massa Ferrari + 1:07.489
16. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:30.874
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 45
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 30
Kubica Renault 20
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 10
