2010 British GP: Webber wins after front wing row

Mark Webber won the 2010 British Grand Prix from 2nd on the grid and led all 52 laps. Behind him, Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes completed the podium. The race was effectively decided on the run to the first corner, where Webber got past the polesitter, his team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Vettel picked up a puncture on the opening lap.

The race at the Silverstone Circuit began with a row at Red Bull. The team had brought a new front wing. On Saturday morning, Vettel broke the one on his car. Team principal Christian Horner then had the only remaining new part taken off Webber's car and given to Vettel. Webber was furious, and the tension left over from the pair's collision in Istanbul flared up again.

Vettel took pole position with the new wing, with Webber alongside him in 2nd. Behind them came Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, Hamilton, Rosberg and Robert Kubica in the Renault. World champion Jenson Button started only 14th. After Friday practice, McLaren had taken off its new blown diffuser again, and that left no time to sort out the set-up.

The track was new as well. For the first time, the Grand Prix ran on the revised Arena layout with the new Wellington Straight. It was also the last race to use the old pit complex between Woodcote and Copse.

Webber made the better start, pulled alongside Vettel and braked first into Copse. Vettel was pushed off line, and Hamilton's front wing clipped his right-rear tyre. With the puncture, Vettel limped through Maggotts and Becketts. He pitted at the end of the first lap for the harder Bridgestone tyres, which had to last until the finish, and rejoined last. Felipe Massa also picked up a puncture on lap 1 after contact with team-mate Alonso and had to pit early too.

After that, Webber had everything under control at the front. Hamilton stayed close enough to keep Webber alert but never got close enough for a real attack. Webber said later that he hadn't cared about anyone else in the race. He took the chequered flag 1.360 seconds ahead of Hamilton. It was Webber's third win of the season, after the Spanish GP and the Monaco GP. On the cool-down lap he radioed the pit wall: "Not bad for a number two driver." There was no mistaking the dig after the wing swap.

Ferrari's afternoon was the most bitter of all. Alonso lost places to Rosberg and Kubica at the start and ran 5th until the pit stops. While battling Kubica, he ran off the track, got past him in the process and did not give the place back. Kubica retired after lap 19 with a driveshaft failure, so Alonso could no longer hand the place back at all. The stewards still gave him a drive-through penalty. Race director Charlie Whiting said Ferrari had been advised to let Kubica back through, but Ferrari's own account of events contradicted this.

Then bad luck struck as well. Adrian Sutil in the Force India and Pedro de la Rosa in the Sauber touched on the start/finish straight. The Sauber's rear wing came apart, and the debris brought out the Safety Car. A drive-through penalty cannot be served while the Safety Car is out. Alonso could only take it after the restart, which dropped him to the back of a tightly bunched field. He finished 14th, out of the points. Setting the race's fastest lap, a 1:30.874 on the final lap, was scant consolation. Alonso declined to give interviews after the race. Massa came home 15th, and Ferrari left without a single point.

Retirements at a glance:

• Lucas di Grassi (Virgin): after lap 9, hydraulics
• Robert Kubica (Renault): after lap 19, driveshaft
• Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber): after lap 29, following the collision with Sutil
• Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso): after lap 44, brakes

Behind Webber, the big winner was Button. In front of his home crowd, the world champion climbed from 14th on the grid to 4th, a gain of ten places. He finished just 0.679 seconds behind Rosberg and the final podium spot. Rosberg's podium was Mercedes' first since the Chinese GP. After Button, the biggest gainer was Vitantonio Liuzzi, who went from 20th on the grid to 11th in the Force India. Kamui Kobayashi was also strong in the Sauber, moving from 12th to 6th. Rubens Barrichello finished fifth for Williams, and his team-mate Nico Hülkenberg scored a point in tenth.

Vettel used the Safety Car period to close back up to the field. In the closing laps he passed Hülkenberg, Sutil and Michael Schumacher to take six points in seventh. Sutil finished eighth and Schumacher ninth. The losers were Kubica, who retired after a strong start, and the two Ferraris, which between them finished 19 places below where they started. Further back, Jarno Trulli was the best of the new teams in 16th for Lotus. The best-placed drivers for Virgin and HRT were Timo Glock in 18th and Karun Chandhok in 19th.

Hamilton extended his lead in the 2010 standings, moving to 145 points, with Button next on 133. Webber's 128 points lifted him to 3rd, past Vettel, who dropped to fourth on 121. Alonso stayed fifth on 98 points but fell further behind the leaders. Rosberg moved up to 6th on 90 points, ahead of Kubica (83).

In the constructors' championship, McLaren led with 278 points from Red Bull (249) and Ferrari (165). After ten of 19 races, the top four drivers were covered by 24 points.

The race mattered for more than the points. Webber had given his answer to the wing swap on the track. Afterwards he said he would not have signed his new contract if he had known it would turn out like this. That brought out into the open the question of which driver Red Bull was favouring in the title race. Next up is the German GP.