Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg has taken victory from Red Bull’s Mark Webber in an epic British Grand Prix, which was littered with tyre failures, two safety cars and Sebastian Vettel’s late retirement whilst leading the race.
Vettel inherited the lead from pole-sitter Hamilton, after the Mercedes driver made a great start. However, the 2008 title winner suffered a tyre blow out on lap 9 whilst on the Wellington straight.
The Red Bull then took the lead, and appeared to be on target for victory until his RB9 ground to a halt on the 42nd lap.
This once again prompted a lead change and promoted Rosberg to top spot, which saw him take the win by a mere 0.765 seconds from Webber.
Despite finishing within a whisker of his third British Grand Prix victory, Webber had a difficult start to the race after having made contact with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean , which dropped him from fourth on the grid to 15th.
The Australian also had to change the nose of his Red Bull during his second stop.
Despite his tyre problem, Hamilton put in a stunning recovery drive to finish fourth, after taking advantage of Kimi Raikkonen’s, who earlier in the race, questioned the team’s strategy to keep him out for so long on worn tyres.
Felipe Massa, another victim of a Pirelli blowout, finished sixth after suffering a tyre failure after having made a good start to jump from 11th to fifth on the first lap.
The Ferrari’s let go whilst attacking Adrian Sutil’s Force India after the battling pair left The Loop section of the track.
The left rear tyre on Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso also exploded, with the young Frenchman doing well to keep control after the Pirelli let go on the Hangar Straight.
As a result, the incident destroyed the rear of the Toro Rosso, and forced him to retire from the race.
However, team-mate Daniel Ricciardo fared well to finish eighth after qualifying sixth.
McLaren had a difficult weekend, with both cars failing to score points despite Jenson Button appearing to be on course to do so in the final stages of the race.
The 2009 world champion was shunted down from 10th to 13th, and Sergio Perez suffered yet another tyre failure after the second safety car period which came as a result of Vettel’s stricken Red Bull.
Furthermore, the tyre-blow on Perez’s car almost ended in contact with Alonso, after the Ferrari was forced to take evasive action to avoid the debris.
Race results – British Grand Prix (Silverstone)
1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 52 laps 1.32'59"456
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 0"765
3 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 7"124
4 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 7"756
5 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 11"257
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F158) - 14"573
7 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 16"335
8 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 16"543
9 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 17"943
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 19"709
11 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 21"135
12 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 25"094
13 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 25"900
14 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 26"200
15 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 31"600
16 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 36"000
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'07"600
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'07"700
19 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1'33"401 (Mark Webber)
Retirements
Lap 46 - Sergio Perez
Lap 41 - Sebastian Vettel
Lap 35 - Jean Eric Vergne
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 132; 2.Alonso 111; 3.Raikkonen 100; 4.Hamilton, Webber 87; 6.Rosberg 82; 7.Massa 57; 8.Di Resta 36; 9.Grosjean 26; 10.Button 25; 11.Sutil 23; 12.Vergne 13; 13.Perez 12; 14.Ricciardo 11; 15.Hulkenberg 6.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 219; 2.Mercedes 169; 3.Ferrari 168; 4.Lotus-Renault 126; 5.Force India-Mercedes 59; 6.McLaren-Mercedes 37; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 24; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 6.
Vettel inherited the lead from pole-sitter Hamilton, after the Mercedes driver made a great start. However, the 2008 title winner suffered a tyre blow out on lap 9 whilst on the Wellington straight.
The Red Bull then took the lead, and appeared to be on target for victory until his RB9 ground to a halt on the 42nd lap.
This once again prompted a lead change and promoted Rosberg to top spot, which saw him take the win by a mere 0.765 seconds from Webber.
Despite finishing within a whisker of his third British Grand Prix victory, Webber had a difficult start to the race after having made contact with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean , which dropped him from fourth on the grid to 15th.
The Australian also had to change the nose of his Red Bull during his second stop.
Despite his tyre problem, Hamilton put in a stunning recovery drive to finish fourth, after taking advantage of Kimi Raikkonen’s, who earlier in the race, questioned the team’s strategy to keep him out for so long on worn tyres.
Felipe Massa, another victim of a Pirelli blowout, finished sixth after suffering a tyre failure after having made a good start to jump from 11th to fifth on the first lap.
The Ferrari’s let go whilst attacking Adrian Sutil’s Force India after the battling pair left The Loop section of the track.
The left rear tyre on Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso also exploded, with the young Frenchman doing well to keep control after the Pirelli let go on the Hangar Straight.
As a result, the incident destroyed the rear of the Toro Rosso, and forced him to retire from the race.
However, team-mate Daniel Ricciardo fared well to finish eighth after qualifying sixth.
McLaren had a difficult weekend, with both cars failing to score points despite Jenson Button appearing to be on course to do so in the final stages of the race.
The 2009 world champion was shunted down from 10th to 13th, and Sergio Perez suffered yet another tyre failure after the second safety car period which came as a result of Vettel’s stricken Red Bull.
Furthermore, the tyre-blow on Perez’s car almost ended in contact with Alonso, after the Ferrari was forced to take evasive action to avoid the debris.
Race results – British Grand Prix (Silverstone)
1 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 52 laps 1.32'59"456
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 0"765
3 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 7"124
4 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 7"756
5 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 11"257
6 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F158) - 14"573
7 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 16"335
8 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 16"543
9 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 17"943
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 19"709
11 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 21"135
12 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 25"094
13 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 25"900
14 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 26"200
15 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 31"600
16 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 36"000
17 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'07"600
18 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'07"700
19 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1 lap
Fastest lap of the race: 1'33"401 (Mark Webber)
Retirements
Lap 46 - Sergio Perez
Lap 41 - Sebastian Vettel
Lap 35 - Jean Eric Vergne
Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 132; 2.Alonso 111; 3.Raikkonen 100; 4.Hamilton, Webber 87; 6.Rosberg 82; 7.Massa 57; 8.Di Resta 36; 9.Grosjean 26; 10.Button 25; 11.Sutil 23; 12.Vergne 13; 13.Perez 12; 14.Ricciardo 11; 15.Hulkenberg 6.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 219; 2.Mercedes 169; 3.Ferrari 168; 4.Lotus-Renault 126; 5.Force India-Mercedes 59; 6.McLaren-Mercedes 37; 7.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 24; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 6.