F1: WEBBER NICKS HAMILTON TO VICTORY AT SILVERSTONE
2010-07-12 14:00:07 Author: admin Source:
At the new configuration Silverstone Circuit, Mark Webber won an emphatic British Grand Prix ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton with team mate and pole sitter Sebastian Vettel finishing down in seventh from a tyre puncture sustained during the turn one incident at the start of the race. Off the block and while battling for the top spot, the RB6s of Vettel and Webber were side by side heading for the first turn, but Webber wouldn't play second fiddle and bump Vettel off the track for the lead. In an instant, Vettel reported a puncture immediately and pitted for tyres on the second lap, and that untimely pitstop relatively ruined his race as he took the chequered flag in seventh.
Webber, thus, scored his third victory of the season. Hamilton did not disappoint too much either with a solid second place, while Mercedes GP had every reasons to be satisfied with Nico Rosberg holding on to third place and the final podium spot. And further back, Michael Schumacher hung on to ninth and scored two precious points for the team as well.
Webber commented, “The start was ideal, when I got to the first corner I was ahead and thought, ‘let’s get on with it’. It was a special day and a lot of hard work has gone in from the team – you don’t get results at this level if you’re not putting the effort in. They deserve this today.Going forward, I will do the best I can. It was an incredible day today and I’m looking forward to enjoying myself this evening.”
Vettel admitted that he made a bad start when he lost the lead and had to drop back following a right rear tyre puncture. After that unnecessary stop, he wrestled his way back from a dead last position to end up seventh with a somewhat flawless drive. With 15 laps to go, he took on Schumacher for eighth and set his sights on Force India's Adrian Sutil. But, only two laps before the end, he managed to squeezed through on the inside of Sutil's car to seal a hard-fought seventh.
Into the mid-season of the 2010 Formula One World Championship season, Hamilton has managed to extend the lead in the drivers' standings with 145 points to team mate Jenson Button in second with 133 points. Red Bull racing rivals Mark Webber has leapfrogged Sebastian Vettel to third place with Webber on 128 points against Vettel's 121 points. On the Manufacturer's side of things, McLaren has pulled further in front in points total to Red Bull, 278 to 249 points.
McLaren duo Hamilton (above left) and Button had a productive home race as they crossed the line second and fourth. Button made up 10 positions, having started 14th on the grid.
Current drivers' championship leader Hamilton commented in post-race, "It’s been a phenomenal weekend – and this result is a near-perfect way to finish it. At the start, I was able to jump Fernando [Alonso] and take a step forward. After that I chased Mark [Webber] for the whole race, but the Red Bull was about four or five tenths a lap faster than our car, so it was very difficult to stay close to him. Still, the most important thing is that we scored a lot of championship points once again, so this is another great race result for us."
Button added, "“It’s a pity I couldn’t get onto the podium in front of my home crowd, who have been absolutely amazing all weekend. You can never forget the fans around here – I genuinely think they helped Lewis and me to a good result today. And they got to see and cheer Lewis on the podium too, so it’s not been a bad weekend for them overall, I hope. After Friday, to pick up second and fourth today is great. I’m still second in the drivers’ championship, and the only pain is that Lewis has pulled away a bit. But we’ll try and get that back at the next race."
For the first time this season, Ferrari finished a race without scoring a single point. It was clear the two Ferrari men would have a difficult Sunday immediately after the first few corners. Fernando Alonso (above) made a bad start and came into contact with Felipe Massa, who sustained slight damage to the front wing, but more importantly, a puncture on the right rear tyre. The Brazilian had to pit, thus dropping to the back of the field.
Alonso found himself fifth and for a long time, fought with Rosberg and then after his pit stop, with Robert Kubica. Indeed, his duel with the Polish driver led to the second crucial episode of his race: the Stewards deemed that the Spaniard should give back the position, but by the time the information was given, Kubica was slowing with a problem that would lead to his retirement. Subsequently, Alonso was given a drive-through which, coming at the same time as a Safety Car period, meant he dropped to the back of the group of un-lapped drivers. Two punctures late on, first for Massa and then Alonso were a further indication that this was a bleak day. It is little consolation that both drivers repeatedly set the fastest race laps in the final stages.
Renault, like Ferrari, failed to score points here as Kubica retired from a driveshaft failure at the rear of the car, while Vitaly Petrov suffered a puncture after the safety car period which concluded any chances of obtaining points.
AT&T Williams enjoyed their first double points-paying race of the season with Rubens Barrichello (above) finishing fifth and team mate Nico Hulkenberg adding a point to their British GP weekend. Barrichello was in competitive form at Silverstone where he took two places off the line to move into sixth place before gaining a further position in the second half of the race. The Brazilian secured a second consecutive top five result for the team, and further back, a decisive strategy from the pitwall combined with a mature race drive saw Hulkenberg match his best result of the season to date.
By finishing sixth in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Kamui Kobayashi scored eight championship points and this is the best result for the team so far. His team mate, Pedro de la Rosa, had to give up at half distance because of damage to the rear of the car caused by an accident.
Sutil continued the Force India F1 Team's run of points finishes, salvaging a hard-fought eighth position and his sixth consecutive top ten finish, and bringing the team's season total so far to 47 points. Team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi similarly put in a fighting performance to end the race in 11th position, less than a second from tenth and nine positions up from grid slot.
Both Sutil and Liuzzi had good first laps and saw plenty of action in the mid-pack, with Sutil up to fifth by the time of his first stop on lap 15. On rejoining Sutil dropped to 13th behind de la Rosa, but was able to move back to tenth on lap 26 when he passed the Spaniard on the straight.
de la Rosa's rear wing however came apart, dropping carbon shards on the racing line. A safety car period ensued, after which Sutil was quickly elevated to eighth when Alonso served a drivethrough penalty for passing Kubica off the track. Sutil then scythed past Schumacher through Luffield (above) for seventh, but soon found a charging Vettel in his mirrors. Vettel - third in the championship going into this race - tried every which way to pass Sutil, however he kept him behind for 10 laps until Vettel eventually barged through on the next to last lap.
Best of the new teams was decisively the Lotus Racing team as the team recorded a double car finish. Jarno Trulli made a great start and then put in a strong race to finish 16th, while Heikki Kovalainen finished just behind his team mate in 17th.
Results
1 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:24:38.200
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1.3 secs
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +21.3 secs 5 15
4 Jenson Button McLaren +21.9 secs
5 Rubens Barrichello Williams +31.4 secs
6 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +32.1 secs
7 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +36.7 secs
8 Adrian Sutil Force India +40.9 secs
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +41.5 secs
10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams +42.0 secs
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India +42.4 secs
12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso +47.6 secs
13 Vitaly Petrov Renault +59.3 secs
14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +62.3 secs
15 Felipe Massa Ferrari +67.4 secs
16 Jarno Trulli Lotus +1 Lap
17 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus +1 Lap
18 Timo Glock Virgin +2 Lap
19 Karun Chandhok HRT +2 Lap
20 Sakon Yamamoto HRT +2 Lap
DNFs
Jaime Alguersuari
Pedro de la Rosa
Robert Kubica
Lucas di Grassi
Drivers standings
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 145
2 Jenson Button McLaren 133
3 Mark Webber Red Bull 128
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 121
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 98
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 90
7 Robert Kubica Renault 83
8 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 36
10 Adrian Sutil German Force India 35
11 Rubens Barrichello Williams 29
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 15
13 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 12
14 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 7
15 Vitaly Petrov Renault 6
16 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 3
17 Nico Hulkenberg Williams 2
Teams Rankings
1 McLaren 278
2 Red Bull 249
3 Ferrari 165
4 Mercedes GP 126
5 Renault 89
6 Force India 47
7 Williams 31
8 Sauber 15
9 Toro Rosso 10
