Mark Webber wins the British Grand Prix

Red Bull and team driver Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix over the weekend, just edging out Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in a tense finale.

00:00 09 July 2012

Red Bull and team driver Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix over the weekend, just edging out Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in a tense finale. 

 

Alonso led the pack for much of the 52 lap race, but Webber clawed back a victory after chasing the Spaniard down in the final stages of the race thanks to switching tyres to hards while Alonso was on softs. Red Bull started on softs and moved to hards while Ferrari opted for the other way round.  

 

In the end, Webber led the race for the last four laps. His teammate Sebastian Vettel took third, giving Red Bull two of top three podium spots. Ferrari also had a great showing, picking up second with Alonso and fourth with Felipe Massa. 

 

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton had a poor showing, placing eighth while his teammate Jenson Button settled for 10th. McLaren had the fastest car of the season from the start, but Red Bull and Ferrari broke through. 

 

The BBC quoted Webber as saying: "I've had a few [wins], but this one is taking a little bit to sink in. It didn't look like a spectacular race between us initially, but it was one - pacing the stints on the tyres, Fernando starting on the harder tyre...

 

"After the first stint Fernando had I thought he was in good shape to close the win out. But it came our way and I am absolutely over the moon, absolutely rapt.

 

"I had a single opportunity to pounce and I wasn't going to let that slip. Fernando, with the front-left tyre, if you lose balance around this place, the speed is very high in that [second] sector and it's very hard for the driver to do something. 

 

"It was obvious he was pushing as hard as possible but the balance wasn't with him." 

 

Alonso, meanwhile, was a true sportsman acknowledging Webber's efforts: "The victory was quite close today, but Mark was much quicker in the last laps and he deserves the victory. But I am very proud of the progress Ferrari have made in the last few weeks and we are now fighting for victories in the last few races." 

Despite horrible weather over the last few weeks, the rain never washed over the British Grand Prix as expected allowing the race to take place in the sun. 

 

The results:

 

1   M Webber              Red Bull

 

2   F Alonso                 Ferrari

 

3   S Vettel                   Red Bull

 

4   F Massa                 Ferrari

 

5   K Raikkonen           Lotus

 

6   R Grosjean             Lotus

 

7   M Schumacher       Mercedes

 

8   L Hamilton             McLaren

 

9   B Senna                 Williams

 

10 J Button                  McLaren

 

11 K Kobayashi          Sauber

 

12 N Hulkenberg        Force India

 

13 D Ricciardo            Toro Rosso

 

14 J Vergne                Toro Rosso

 

15 N Rosberg             Mercedes

 

16 P Maldonado         Williams

 

17 H Kovalainen         Caterham

 

18 T Glock                  Marussia

 

19 C Pic                      Marussia

 

20 P de la Rosa          HRT

 

21 N Karthikeyan        HRT

 

22 S Perez (ret.)         Sauber

 

23 P Di Resta (ret.)     Force India

 

24 V Petrov (ret.)        Caterham