Webber wins to close gap on Alonso as Hamilton and Button struggle at Silverstone

PUBLISHED: 14:29, 8 July 2012 | UPDATED: 15:10, 8 July 2012

Mark Webber proved himself a genuine Formula One world title contender this season with victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix.

Last year at Silverstone Webber was contentiously ordered to hold station behind Sebastian Vettel as he closed in on his Red Bull team-mate in the dying stages at Silverstone.

Job done: Webber's Red Bull team rush to congratulate him as he crosses the finishing line

HOW THEY FINISHED

1 Mark Webber (Red Bull)
2 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
3 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
4 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
6 Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
7 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
8 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
9 Bruno Senna (Williams)
10 Jenson Button (McLaren)

But on Sunday it was Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso battling at the front at the death, with the former grabbing the lead on lap 48 of the 52, going on to claim the ninth victory of his career.

More importantly it has allowed Webber to close the gap on Alonso at the top of the championship standings to 13 points, with Vettel having to settle for third on this occasion, and lying 29 points down.

Webber said: 'It was another great day for us, a great day for me. To win here again is a fantastic feeling.'

For the Britons, in front of a sell-out 125,500 crowd, it was a day to forget as McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were eighth and 10th, whilst Force India's Paul di Resta retired after two laps.

High hopes: Webber jumps for joy after clinching his second British Grand Prix win

After two days of rain that have caused havoc on and around the circuit this year, with car parks turned into mudbaths, drivers and fans were able to enjoy a dry race.

To that end, as qualifying ended in the wet on Saturday, teams were given a free rein when it came to tyre choice at the start, and it was McLaren who opted for the wrong strategy.

They chose the hard compound for Hamilton and Button, while six of the seven ahead of the former - Alonso the exception - opted for the soft Pirellis.

In starting from pole and managing to get the run into the first corner, Alonso was able to make his two-stop plan work for the most part.

That was until his soft tyres in the final stint proved no match for Webber on the hards, with the Australian making his move into Brooklands with just over four laps remaining.

Leading the way: Webber overtook Alonso late in the race

As for Hamilton, he finished where he started, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa fourth ahead of Lotus duo Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, with Mercedes' Michael Schumacher seventh.

Hamilton now finds himself 37 points down on Alonso, with Button cast adrift in eighth, 79 points off the pace and with his title hopes fading fast.

The 32-year-old, who started 16th, at least managed to collect a point courtesy of a mistake on the penultimate lap from Force India's Nico Hulkenberg.

For Di Resta, it was not the British Grand Prix he dreamed of as the Scot suffered his first retirement for 24 races.

Clear skies: The expected rain stayed away

Coming out of The Loop at turn five on the opening lap, Di Resta was sent spinning into the large run-off area, sustaining a left-rear puncture.

Although Di Resta managed to limp back to the pits, he sustained damage to the floor that forced him back into the garage at the end of the second lap, and ultimately out of the race.

Di Resta said: 'I've no indication as to what happened. I don't know if someone caught me, but I picked up a puncture, and then the heavy damage to the floor. There was no point carrying on.'

There was bitter frustration for Di Resta, felt by Sergio Perez too on lap 12 as Pastor Maldonado again proved a danger to all around him.

From the seventh and ninth positions the duo pitted together, and after returning to the track Perez was soon alongside Maldonado going into Brooklands.

Missing out: Alonso had led the race from pole position before being overtaken

Although there was enough room for Perez to go round the outside, Maldonado tried to shift to that line, only to bundle the Mexican off track and out of the race.

It was the second time in successive races Maldonado has seemingly lost the plot given his incident with Hamilton on the penultimate lap of the European Grand Prix in Valencia a fortnight ago.

And for the second successive race Maldonado faces a post-grand prix investigation by the stewards, with Perez demanding they take serious action before another driver gets hurt.

A furious Perez said: 'He has no respect for other drivers. He is a very stupid driver.

'I don't know why the stewards don't take more action against him. He deserves a big penalty.

It's the pits: Webber comes in for a pit-stop

'We are risking our lives out there and if they (the stewards) don't do something he will hurt someone.

'For all the drivers he is very dangerous driver on the circuit.'

Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi later proved a danger to his own pit crew as he sent four flying in coming in for his second stop at the end of lap 37.

That prompted Kobayashi into issuing a sincere apology to his team over the in-car radio, in particular as he left two of his mechanics requiring medical attention.

A delighted Webber said: 'At the start Fernando had good pace, Fernando started on a different tyre to us but we never gave up and kept pushing.

'It didn't work out for Fernando at the end, it was very, very close for him but we were able to capitalise.

Close encounter: Alonso got off to a good start

'It's a special win for the team, we are a local team based just down the road and it's incredible for them and it's another victory for Renault Sport in the UK and I am very proud.

'Thanks to all the fans for sticking with us over the last few days.'

Alonso remained upbeat despite being denied a second consecutive victory so late on, and echoed Webber in praising the Silverstone fans for braving the sodden conditions.

'At the end Mark was much quicker than us and he deserves the win so congratulations to him and the Red Bull team, but I am proud of Ferrari's recovery in the last couple of weeks,' he said.

'We have fought for the wins in the last four races.

'Thanks to the fans for coming through the bad weather, I hope they enjoyed it.'

Mud bath: The car parks remained closed at Silverstone

Champagne moment: Webber is right in contention for the driver's championship title

We're a long way behind our rivals, admits Hamilton as McLaren falter at British GP

By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 17:13, 8 July 2012 | UPDATED: 17:13, 8 July 2012

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button bemoaned McLaren's lack of pace after being unable to make an impact on their home Grand Prix at Silverstone.

McLaren had been bullish ahead of the British round of the championship, believing upgrades to the MP4-27 would lead to a strong performance on home soil.

But after starting eighth and 16th respectively the pair were never a factor in the fight for the podium places and ultimately finished down in eighth and 10th as Mark Webber secured victory for Red Bull.

Bad day at the office: Button and Hamilton endured a difficult day at Silverstone

On the evidence of the last two rounds, here and at Valencia, McLaren are some way off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari and Hamilton, who has now fallen 37 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, knows there is plenty of work to be done before the German Grand Prix.

When asked how far the team are behind Red Bull, Hamilton said: 'A long way away, but we will keep working at it and hopefully catch them up.

'It wasn't a special race to be honest, I wish we could have done more for the fans, we tried as hard as we could but we just didn't have the pace today.

Out in front: Hamilton led the race after going longer on his first set of tyres

'I don't know why. I think I was in the lead at one point so I don't understand how you can be there and then go all the way back back to where I started, but I pushed all the way and did everything I could.

'I was flat out right to the end but for some reason we didn't have any speed.'

Hamilton also said he would take a look at the strategy McLaren used for him today. Hamilton started on the hard compound tyre and took the lead when those ahead of him stopped, but as his tyres started to go off Alonso easily caught and passed the McLaren. But Hamilton felt he could have stayed out longer, even though he was substantially slower than the leaders immediately prior to his stop.

Long way behind: McLaren have slipped to fourth in the constructors' standings

He said: 'From what I can understand it must have been okay, but I will have to look at it afterwards to see how the strategy panned out.

'In the first stint my tyres were still good and I was almost holding on to Fernando on quite old tyres so maybe a one stop (strategy) would have been possible, I really don't know to be honest.

'We did everything we could but it was a really tough race for us, really tough.'

Champagne moment: Webber celebrates his second victory of the 2012 championship

Button, now without a podium finish on home soil in 13 attempts, was similarly despondent, and believes that it is not just the Red Bulls and Ferraris who have got the McLarens beat on pure speed at the moment.

He said: 'I just don't think we are very quick at the moment. I think that's an issue for both cars.

'The Red Bulls look strong and even following the Williams around you can see they are very strong. They can put their car in certain areas I could not imagine putting the car and getting away with it.

'We have to find some pace, it's not just Red Bull and Ferrari that are quicker than us, I think a lot of cars are, I just don't think they got their strategy right today.

'We have a lot to work on and I am sorry to the fans we could not have a better result and fight at the front, hopefully we can do that soon.'

KATCHING MY I

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Sunday, 8 July 2012