British Grand Prix: Webber wins but the wing breaks

After this racing weekend, Mark Webber leaves Silverstone whistling a salvaging “Rule Australia,” reminding the land of Her Majesty that its former colonies have nothing to envy from Major Britannia. The Kangaroo has just made a big statement, responding in the best possible way to the controversy over the new front wing, which was only installed on his teammate Vettel’s car.

An undisputed victory where Webber demonstrated clear leadership throughout the race. He thus steps onto the top spot of the podium alongside Hamilton, second, and Rosberg, third.

From the start of the race, poleman Sebastian Vettel lost all chances of victory by focusing more on Webber to his right than on his trajectory; he went straight at the first corner and got a puncture during this off-track excursion. After rejoining at the back of the pack, the young German driver began his comeback to finish in seventh place. Meanwhile, Alonso, who started third, ended up out of the points, partly due to a drive-through penalty for gaining an illegal position advantage.

Webber therefore got off to a much better start than his teammate, and by the time they reached Copse, the young German was already visiting the sidelines. Vettel came back onto the track near Becketts with a puncture on his rear right tire. For the RBR mechanics, it was already time to head onto the track to handle the “deflated” pole sitter right at the end of the first lap. Felipe Massa also had to make a pit stop with an exploded rear right tire, exposing the rim, a reminder of a chance encounter between the two Ferraris in the first corner.

In the surrounding chaos, Hamilton reclaimed second place after starting in fourth position. Behind him, Kubica showcased his talent by quickly gaining three places to find himself in third position, with Rosberg and Alonso, recovering from his failed start, right on his tail.

With almost identical tire (soft tires) choices for all single-seaters, the first wave of tire changes saw Rosberg stay on track longer than Kubica, while Alonso did the opposite and pitted earlier than the Polish driver. This decision did not work in favor of the Spaniard, who, in his eagerness on lap 17, attempted to overtake the Renault by going around the outside at Vale and then cutting over the curbs, off the racing line, into Club. Such an overtake cannot be allowed, so Alonso had to let Kubica pass. However, he did not; the “Bull of Asturias” was already eyeing Rosberg’s Mercedes. Three laps later, Kubica had to retire, still maintaining a good pace, due to a differential problem. The race stewards had just reviewed Alonso’s maneuver and decided to issue him a drive-through penalty. This penalty would have to be delayed, as the safety car was deployed because pieces of the rear wing from de la Rosa’s BMW Sauber Ferrari were strewn across the track, the result of contact with Adrian Sutil’s Force India.

Alonso already knew that as soon as the safety car was withdrawn, he would have to go through the pit lane to serve his penalty. From then on, he had to give up any aspirations for the rest of the race.

The safety car was a lifeline for Vettel, who had made little progress up to that point in the race, but he began to make his way through the traffic with a series of spectacular overtakes, including one on Michael Schumacher. Sutil, who had also pulled off a bold move on the Red Baron after the restart, proved to be Vettel’s toughest rival. It took many laps of this tactical battle before the Red Bull driver could attempt a muscular overtake in the penultimate lap to secure seventh place.

Far from this turmoil, Webber was leading the race masterfully. Hamilton managed to stay very close to the RBR, but later, once the pit stops were made, Webber became relentless, achieving the fastest laps whenever necessary. He had up to a 6-second lead before slowing his pace towards the end.

Rosberg allows Mercedes to climb onto the podium with a very solid run in third position, even though midway through the race he lost a barge board in a collision with Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso. The young German finished ahead of Button, who started in fourteenth position. He finished fourth after an amazing first lap. His ability to manage his tire sets by staying on the track the longest without changing was decisive.

The veteran Rubens Barrichello provided Williams with its second consecutive top five. Kamui Kobayashi follows him in sixth place for what is Sauber’s best result this year.

Vettel, seventh, stayed too long behind Sutil to catch up with these two drivers. He had to settle for this miraculous scoring position, followed by his compatriots, Sutil, Schumacher, and Nico Hülkenberg.

Alonso’s race, already irreparably ruined, worsened further after a puncture from contact with Tonio Liuzzi. He finished fourteenth, one place ahead of Massa, who had to pit again for fresh tires. Indeed, his spin coming out of Luffield had just finished off his tire set.

Grand Prix of Great Britain

Silverstone, England.

52 laps. 306.747 km.

Weather: Sunny.

Ranking:

Unclassified/Abandoned: