British Grand Prix 2012: Red Bull’s Mark Webber clinches victory

Red Bull's Mark Webber wins the British Grand Prix after overtaking Ferrari's Fernando Alonso late on at Silverstone

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By Charli Burden Sunday 8 July 2012, 15:37 UK

Mark Webber clinched his second win of 2012Photo: Getty Images, courtesy of Red Bull Racing

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Red Bull’s Mark Webber snatched victory away from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the closing four laps of the British Grand Prix to win his second race of the season.

The Australian seized his second Silverstone win in three years, making it three victories in four years for Red Bull at their home circuit.

Drivers’ championship leader Fernando Alonso led confidently for 48 laps – but a difference in tyre strategy brought victory to Red Bull.

Webber’s hard tyres in the closing stages of the race gave him the pace to pass Alonso on soft tyres, securing Webber’s second triumph of 2012 after the Monaco Grand Prix.

Ferrari and Red Bull dominated the top positions as Sebastian Vettel joined his team-mate on the podium in third, and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa scored his best result of the season in fourth.

“It was a very interesting race. I thought at the start Fernando had very good pace. We had the better strategy in the end. We never gave up, kept pushing and it did not work out in the end for Fernando,” said Webber.

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Mark Webber moved up to second in the drivers’ standings with his victory at Silverstone (Getty Images/Red Bull Racing)

“We never gave up and we never stopped pushing. It was very, very close. This is a very special victory for the team, we are a local team.

“I’m very proud today and thank you to all the fans for sticking with us today. It’s been incredible.”

Pastor Maldonado was involved in another incident for the second consecutive race. Oversteer by the Williams’ driver caused a collision which ended Sauber’s Sergio Perez’s race on lap 12.

“Not Maldonado again. Why does he drive like that?” said Perez over the team radio. “He has no respect for other drivers. He’s a very stupid driver.

“He ruined [Lewis] Hamilton’s race [in Valencia] and now he’s ruined mine. With Pastor [the officials] aren’t doing anything to make him learn his lesson.”

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Webber overtook championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari late in the race (Getty Images/Red Bull Racing)

Meanwhile, It was a disappointing day for the British drivers in front of their home crowd.

Despite a stint at the front of the pack, McLaren’s Hamilton finished where he started in eighth position. Team-mate Jenson Button picked up one point from the race as he finished 10th.

Fellow British driver Paul di Resta’s chance to impress ended early on as a puncture picked up after a spin in the first lap put out the Force India driver.

Alonso still leads the drivers’ championship by 13 points to Webber on 116. Vettel trails his team-mate by 16 points, giving him much work to do in two weeks’ time in Germany.