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A fired-up Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix for Red Bull yesterday after a storming start that turned the tables on teammate Sebastian Vettel.
The victory put a smile on the Australian’s face after having to give his car’s front wing to the German on Saturday in a controversy that left Red Bull facing accusations of favoritism.
Webber, stony-faced on Saturday, let his feelings pour out as he crossed the line, telling the team over the radio: “Fantastic, not bad for a No. 2 driver.”
“Well done Mark, you can smile now,” team boss Christian Horner replied.
Vettel, who had started on pole only to find himself at the back of the field after the first lap, fought back to finish seventh.
Britain’s Lewis Hamilton delighted the 120,000-strong crowd with a fighting second place for McLaren, 1.3 seconds behind Webber, to extend his championship lead over teammate Jenson Button to 12 points with nine races remaining.
World champion Button, starting 14th after describing his car as “undriveable” on Saturday, carved his way through the field to finish fourth on a bright afternoon at the new Silverstone circuit.
While a remarkable drive in the circumstances, Button still found himself off his home podium for the 11th season in succession.
The story of the race was the start, with the two Red Bull drivers lining up alongside each other on the front row with the battle lines drawn.
Webber, more than ever the Australian hard man, gave no quarter and forced Vettel wide on to the rumble strips while avoiding a repeat of the collision in Turkey that wrecked Red Bull’s hopes of a one-two.
The one-two still evaporated in the haze of exhaust fumes, Vettel having to pit at the end of the opening lap with a punctured right rear tire after a glancing blow from Hamilton’s McLaren.
The 23-year-old, last year’s winner from pole in Britain, could still hold his head high after staging a thrilling fightback that included scything past compatriot and seven-times champion Michael Schumacher.
In related news, Formula One could return to South Africa in the next three years, but a Russian Grand Prix is top of the agenda, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said yesterday.
“The only question mark is Russia, where we should be and we are not,” Ecclestone told BBC Radio. “It would be nice to have covered the world, but Russia is more important right now. Africa is limited for all the people who are involved in F1 for business, whereas Russia is wide open.”
For Ecclestone, South Africa’s successful staging of the World Cup has made the staging of a Formula One race there more realistic again. He said Cape Town had been discussed as a possible circuit venue.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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