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F1: Mark Webber wins at Silverstone despite wing issue

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Khatir Soltani
From GMM

Mark Webber's post-qualifying anger became joy on Sunday as the Red Bull driver leapfrogged his teammate Sebastian Vettel in the world championship standings.

The Australian drove to commanding victory in the British grand prix, while polesitter Vettel was passed at the start and then suffered a puncture in a light touch with Lewis Hamilton.

And the young German's first-corner incident was made worse by Webber edging him over the kerb on the exit of Copse.

"If your question serious?" a frustrated Sebastian Vettel, who finished seventh, told a BBC reporter when asked if he thought their fight was unfair.

Team boss Christian Horner saw no problem with the moves.

"No -- I was perfectly happy with how they worked together through the first turn," said the Briton.

But after the front wing saga of Saturday, there was some needle between Horner and Webber in their post-race radio exchange.

"Not bad for a number two driver," said the Australian, before Horner told Webber: "You can smile now."

Before the race, Webber had declared himself the "underdog", vowed to "to my best for the guys on my car", and admitted for the first time that he "wasn't too happy" about losing his new front wing to Vettel for qualifying.

And within memory of his thunderous face after qualifying, observers said Mark Webber was unprecedentedly elated on the podium.

British legend Sir Stirling Moss said at Silverstone: "I think what Mark should do is say 'ok, give him (Vettel) the best parts, and I'll go out and beat him anyway'."

Albeit admitting that he might "act differently" in the event of a shortage of new parts at subsequent races, Horner said: "It's amazing how much fuss that one front wing can make."

Elsewhere, Spanish reports said Fernando Alonso was calm after the race, but BBC presenters announced the Ferrari driver was "too angry" to appear for an interview.

After his anger about Lewis Hamilton's penalty Valencia, at Silverstone it was Alonso with a drive-through penalty, for illegally overtaking Robert Kubica.

And when asked if Ferrari's post-Valencia reaction had angered the FIA and provoked Sunday's penalty, Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni described the question as "malicious".

Lewis Hamilton, second in Britain, is still the championship leader, 12 points ahead of his McLaren teammate Jenson Button, who drove through the field from 14th to 4th at the chequered flag.


Classification Grand prix of Great Britain
Silverstone - July, 11 2010

1 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB-Renault) - 52 laps 1.24'38"200
2 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 1"360
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W01) - 21"307
4 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/25-Mercedes) - 21"986
5 - Rubens Barrichello (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 31"456
6 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C29-Ferrari) - 32"171
7 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB6-Renault) - 36"734.
8 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 40"932
9 - Michael Schumacher (Mercedes MGP W01) - 41"599
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Williams FW32-Cosworth) - 42"012
11 - Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India VJM03-Mercedes) - 42"459
12 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR5-Ferrari) - 47"627
13 - Vitaly Petrov (Renault R30) - 59"374.
14 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F10) - 1'02"385
15 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F10) - 1'07"489
16 - Jarno Trulli (Lotus T127-Cosworth) - 1 lap
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus T127-Cosworth) - 1 lap
18 - Timo Glock (Virgin VR01-Cosworth) - 1 lap
19 - Karun Chandhok (Hispania F110-Cosworth) - 2 laps
20 - Sakon Yamamoto (Hispania F110-Cosworth) - 2 laps

Fastest lap: Fernando Alonso 1'30"874

Retirements
10th lap - Lucas Di Grassi
20th lap - Robert Kubica
30th lap - Pedro De La Rosa
45th lap - Jaime Alguersuari

Drivers championship standings
1.Hamilton 145; 2.Button 133; 3.Webber 128; 4.Vettel 121; 5.Alonso 98; 6.Rosberg 90; 7.Kubica 83; 8.Massa 67; 9.Schumacher 36; 10.Sutil 35; 11.Barrichello 29; 12.Kobayashi 15; 13.Liuzzi 12; 14.Buemi 7; 15.Petrov 6; 16.Alguersuari 3; 17.Hulkenberg 2.

Constructors championship standings
1.McLaren-Mercedes 278; 2.Red Bull-Renault 249; 3.Ferrari 165; 4.Mercedes 126; 5.Renault 89; 6.Force India-Mercedes 47; 7.Williams-Cosworth 31; 8.Sauber-Ferrari 15; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10.


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Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
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