Race Review – British Grand Prix 2012

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JULY 08: Mark Webber of Australia and Red Bull Racing attends a post race concert in wet conditions following the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit on July 8, 2012 in Northampton, England.

Mark Webber took a surprising victory in the British Grand Prix, after passing race leader Fernando Alonso with only four laps to go. The race was undecided until the end and Red Bull had a great day with a double podium finish as Sebastian Vettel came in third. But that did not spoil the fun for Ferrari as driver Felipe Massa had an amazingly strong pace and just missed out on a podium finish by coming in fourth. The battle between Red Bull and Ferrari had put McLaren and Lotus on the sidelines.

Despite of horrible weather conditions on Friday and Saturday, the drivers were able to do a full race in cool and dry weather conditions at the Silverstone Circuit on Sunday. Alonso took an early lead and led throughout most of the race until Webber got sick of it and passed him for the victory in the final laps. Many feel Ferrari was also to blame for this as they tire strategy seemed to fail; Alonso was running on soft tires in the final stages, which eventually seemed to cost him.

Vettel had a rather quiet run while Massa showed an impressive pace. The Ferrari driver had passed Vettel for fourth in the early stages and was pursuing Michael Schumacher, who looked poised for another podium finish. However, he became more of a road block as his slow pace was holding up Massa, Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen behind him. This allowed Alonso and Webber to open a gap at the front.

Fortunately, Massa found a way to pass Schumacher in Brooklands on Lap 11. The same corner was the scene for a controversial incident involving Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez. The Mexican tried to pass Maldonado when the latter one came out of the pits, but failed as the Williams understeered and ran into his Sauber, causing him to spin. While Perez was forced to retire, Maldonado resumed the race but was unable to make much of it and eventually finished sixteenth. He was heavily criticized for his move and Perez requested the FIA for an investigation on the incident.

Lotus drivers Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean probably hoped for better results, but still showed a great pace that brought them to fifth and sixth respectively. Grosjean had recovered well from an early incident where Paul di Resta ran into him, leaving the Lotus’ rear wing damaged. Di Resta was forced to retire, while the Lotus team struggled to get Grosjean back on track. Fortunately, he was able to still save his race.

McLaren had a very bad day as Lewis Hamilton finished eighth, despite having enjoyed the leading position for a short period of time. After a strategic error (early pit stop) from McLaren, he dropped behind Schumacher and Räikkönen and was unable to recover. Jenson Button laid low for most of the race and eventually finished only tenth.

A notable incident occurred in the pit lane when Kamui Kobayashi ran into his pit crew as he was running too fast. While he was battling for ninth, the incident had dropped him down the order and he eventually finished eleventh.

View full results Formula 1 Great Britain 2012!

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