British GP: Silverstone
Sorting out face paint and flags and due to the rapid filling of fan parks, pubs, and for the privileged few of us, Soccer City, understandably finding a flat screen to watch the Silverstone Grand Prix was second priority. However, for those of us that managed to juggle the two world class events, divine satisfaction was had by all.
Unfortunately, actually fortunately rather (lets not lie, we love it) the racing weekend at Silverstone in England didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts. Mark Webber got exceptionally peeved when Red Bull swapped a new front wing he had on his car over to team mate Sebastian Vettel, who had damaged his wing during the final free practise. Disputes of favouritism and such followed the team around like a fart in a space suite, especially after Vettel managed to secure pole position.
In what he called “An appointment with karma,” Webber managed a superb race taking the lead from the start and ending in first place. For Webber though, victory ultimately helped reiterate his talent.
“Whether the gap between us [him and Vettel] in qualifying was the difference between the two front wings, I don’t know,” said Webber. “But it was a far from ideal situation and it definitely made my win taste even sweeter.”
But of course, this is “Days of our Drives” and dangerous undertones are always present. Whilst doing his victory lap, Webber remarked over the radio, “Not bad for a number two driver.”
The Red Bull favouritism wasn’t the only drama to hit the Silverstone stage. McLaren hurriedly decided to abandon its rather sneakily introduced exhaust-blown diffuser for the weekend after it suffered heat related issues. McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is adamant the diffuser will be ready for the upcoming German Grand Prix.
The race day was swamped with great overtakes, although some a bit murky with controversy. A fierce overtake at the start between Webber and Vettel eventually lead to Vettel sustaining a puncture from a slight touch with Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren and Webber securing P1. This was, naturally, blamed on Webber being all antsy because Vettel’s wing was cooler. I think if Vettel had been presented Webber’s beloved childhood Labrador as a hat then that might be the case, but they’re above that sort of behaviour. Aren’t they?
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso suffered a severe penalty which left him outside the points after a dubious overtake. Alonso was given a drive-through penalty after overtaking Renault’s Robert Kubica by going off track. The marshals then only issued the penalty nine laps after the manoeuvre when Alonso didn’t let Kubica back past him.
“You can have a situation where immediately there is a possibility to give back the position to a driver if you feel that there is really an advantage that you gain. On our side we felt that was not the case otherwise we would have done it,” said Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali.
Contact between Adrian Sutil of Force India and Pedro de la Rosa of Sauber left chunks of de la Rosa’s rear wing strewn on various sections of the track. Although completely messing up Alonso’s game, the safety car was a lifeline for Vettel, who managed a succession of passes in the re-start. Sutil proved to be a worthy adversary and the two dramatically battled it out in the closing laps for P7.
“It was good racing and I defended my position well against Vettel until the final lap, but then he just seemed to drive into me and I lost the racing line and had to move over, otherwise I don’t think he would have got past me,” said Sutil who was eventually overtaken on the penultimate lap.
So ended the Grand Prix, with Webber comfortably fist, Hamilton second and Rosburg of Mercedes completing the podium with a strong run to third. Not that anyone seems to care, Webber being the proverbial black sheep of Red Bull Racing seems to be the most interesting topic for some reason.
Ending on a happy note to take you out of your post-World Cup depression, old Bernie Ecclestone says it’s time F1 came to Africa.
“We have been talking to the people in South Africa for quite a long time off and on. The chances are okay.
“We’ve been talking to the people in Cape Town. We’re talking about building a circuit. It’s probably about three years away. Hopefully what the World Cup has done for Africa, people will think it will be good for F1 to be there.”
I wonder if we can apply for tickets yet?
Final results:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h24:38.200
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1.360
3. Rosberg Mercedes + 21.307
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 21.986
5. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 31.456
6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 32.171
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 36.734
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 40.932
9. Schumacher Mercedes + 41.599
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 42.012
11. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 42.459
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 47.627
13. Petrov Renault + 59.374
14. Alonso Ferrari + 1:02.385
15. Massa Ferrari + 1:07.489
16. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth + 1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 1 lap
19. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
20. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth + 2 laps
Ret Alguersuari STR-Ferrari Brakes
Ret de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari Accident damage
Ret Kubica Renault Driveshaft
Ret di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth Hydraulics
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:30.874
Desiree Schirlinger
Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images