TheChequeredFlag

Red Bull’s Mark Webber cruised to an easy British Grand Prix victory after showing his superiority over his championship rivals.

Bathed in Silverstone sunshine, the Australian driver always had enough over McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, and was welcomed with a standing ovation from the crowd as he passed the chequered flag.

Despite the wonderful sunshine over Northamptonshire, a storm cloud has gathered over Webber and Red Bull’s relationship. Webber was congratulated over the radio by team principal Christian Horner after his crucial victory, but Webber replied: “Not bad for a number two driver.”

Webber, without doubt, was still furious with his team after they took off a new and updated front wing from his car before qualifying, and then giving it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after his failed in free-practice. Ironically, Vettel finished behind Webber after suffering a first-lap puncture after brushing Hamilton’s front-wing.

Vettel, thanks to a safety car, worked his way back up the field and pulled off some stunning overtaking maneuvers to grab seventh place.

Red Bull played down the incident, claiming the decision was made solely on championship position. Again ironically, Webber is now ahead of Vettel in the drivers’ standings. Webber described the moment “an appointment with karma.”

With relations at an all-time low, Christian Horner faces the uncomfortable and unenviable task of mending the faltering spirit within the team.

The controversy overshadowed a wonderful British Grand Prix, which saw a number of outstanding performances form drivers up-and-down the field and great overtaking throughout.

McLaren – despite their woeful Friday – will be delighted with their damage-limitation exercise after Hamilton jumped both Alonso and Vettel at the start to grab second-spot on the podium. Reigning world champion Jenson Button produced one of the drives of the day as he surged from 14th to fourth.

Mercedes had a much-improved Sunday as Nico Rosberg beat-off Button to claim the final podium place. The German’s run was given a major boost after overtaking Adrian Sutil in spectacular fashion and making the most of his strategy as he emerged from the pits ahead of rival Robert Kubica.

Michael Schumacher gained points after finishing ninth, but was a long way behind the rejuvenated Rosberg. The 41-year-old was clearly disappointed after the race, but will be pumped up when he returns for his and Mercedes’ home race at Hockenheim in two weeks time.

The two Williams drivers Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth and tenth as the team achieved their best result of the season at their home race.

Kamui Kobayashi continued to justify his move to Sauber after an impressive sixth place finish. Force India’s Adrian Sutil was unhappy after German counterpart Vettel “pushed” him off the track on the closing laps whilst trying to overtake him. Sutil still finished eighth.

Ferrari had another weekend to forget after Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished 14th and 15th respectively. Both drivers were unfortunate not to finish with good points after different incidents. Alonso was particularly hard-done by after receiving a driver-though penalty after cutting the corner to overtake Kubica.

Alonso believed that Kubica squeezed him onto the grass and the place gained wasn’t intentional. Kubica then suffered a rare retirement shortly afterwards, and the incident was believed to have been forgotten. Not so, Alonso was handed the punishment, and consequently, the decision infuriated the Italian team.

It really wasn’t Alonso’s day after the safety car was deployed before he could take his penalty after debris from Pedro de la Rosa’s car fell after being hit from behind. This left Alonso at the back of the field, with his anger was extremely evident after telling his team not to speak to him on the radio again during the race.

Alonso refused to speak to the media after the race, but his mood was soon to change after his nation secured World Cup glory.

Massa suffered a first-lap puncture like Vettel, but was unable to recreate the overtaking moves of his rival and was jammed in midfield for the rest of the race.

Meanwhile, the weekend was a huge success for Formula 1 and Silverstone. The drivers paid tribute to the crowd who created a hair-raising atmosphere, which mirrored the level of action on the track. How the British Grand Prix came so close to leaving historic Silverstone is frankly incredible and doesn’t bare thinking about.