Webber trumps over Vettel in a contentious British Grand Prix

The drama began on the Saturday, when Sebastian Vettel suffered a damaged front wing during the final practice session on Saturday morning. As a result, the Red Bull team installed an upgraded front wing originally meant for Mark Webber onto Vettel's car.

Much to Webber's chagrin, Vettel then went on to set pole position for the race, and the Australian was visibly irritated at the decision. Fernando Alonso qualified third for Ferrari, ahead of Lewis Hamilton who was fourth for McLaren-Mercedes at his home Grand Prix, while his teammate Jenson Button could only qualify a poor 14th on the grid.

Things turned around at the start of the race though, as Webber managed to gain the advantage going into the first corner and take the lead. Vettel tried to jostle with his teammate and grab his place back, but only managed go off the road and pick up a puncture, dropping him down to last place.

Fernando Alonso was another one who started poorly, losing several places and then tangling with his teammate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian too picked up a puncture, sending him to the back of the pack along with Vettel.

The result of which meant that Hamilton was promoted to second behind Webber, and Robert Kubica was now third having passed Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, and taking advantage of Vettel and Alonso's misfortune. Further behind, Jenson Button managed to make up a whole host of positions, finding himself in eighth after the first lap.

At the end of a chaotic first lap, the running order was as such: Webber, Hamilton, Kubica, Rosberg, Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Button, Kamui Kobayashi, Adrian Sutil, Pedro de la Rosa and Vitaly Petrov.

Massa was the first to pit to fix his puncture, and as such, came out ahead of Vettel who pitted later. Out in front, Webber and Hamilton were pulling away from the chasing pack, leaving Kubica in third to hold up the rest of the drivers.

The first proper pit stop came on lap 11, as Michael Schumacher pulled away from the train of cars Kubica had built up to change his tyres. Alonso, Barrichello and Kobayashi followed suit on lap 12, and Kubica finally made way on lap 13.

The Pole came out ahead of Alonso, much to the Spaniard's frustration, who still could not find his way past the slower Renault car. Eventually, the pressure told, and going into Abbey corner on Lap 17, Alonso was forced wide, and the Ferrari cut across the corner and emerged ahead of Kubica. Alonso didn't give back the place, and was to be punished for it later in the race.

Kubica eventually retired on lap 20 with mechanical problems, and Renault was soon on the radio to the Race Director about Alonso's indiscretion. Ferrari too was remonstrating, claiming that Kubica forced Alonso into the corner, and it was then announced that the incident was under investigation.

It was finally declared on lap 27 that Alonso was to serve a drive-through penalty. Around the same time, pieces of Pedro de la Rosa's rear wing flew off the car on the start-finish straight and landed on the circuit. This resulted in the Safety Car being deployed, and ruined Alonso's race, as he had to serve his penalty only after the Safety Car had went in.

The Safety Car went in on lap 30, and Alonso served his penalty then. Out in front, Adrian Sutil made a brilliant move on Michael Schumacher for seventh, while Vettel took the opportunity to make up positions having caught up to the pack during the Safety Car period. Over the next few laps Vettel managed to overtake Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenburg and Michael Schumacher to find himself in eighth position.

Felipe Massa was another who was hoping to move ahead, but he spun his car on lap 41, and had to make an unannounced pit stop, putting paid any chance of getting any points. His teammate Alonso wasn't faring much better, with the penalty putting him down in 16th place. His attempts to make up positions didn't go according to plan, with Sebastian Buemi, Vitaly Petrov and Vitantonio Liuzzi all making life difficult for the Ferrari man. Alonso eventually finished 14th after picking up damage trying to overtake Liuzzi.

Vettel was doing a lot better though, having made his way to eighth from the rear of the pack. He now had Adrian Sutil in his sight, who was leading a pack of Germans from seventh to tenth position. The Force India driver did well to hold off Vettel, but eventually lost out on the second-to-last lap.

But the race belonged to Webber, who led a superb race to claim victory on a weekend where he sought to prove a point. Lewis Hamilton finished comfortably behind in second in front of his home crowd, and Nico Rosberg managed to hold off Jenson Button for the final podium place.

Rubens Barrichello scored another great result for the Williams team with fifth place, ahead of the impressive Kamui Kobayashi who claimed sixth for Sauber. Sebastian Vettel got seventh after a hard charge from the back, with fellow Germans Adrian Sutil, Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenburg rounding off the top ten.

In the Drivers' Championship, Hamilton retains his lead with 145 points, ahead of teammate Button who has 133. Webber overtook Vettel for third in the standings with 128 points, with the German now seven points behind on 121. Fernando Alonso now sits fifth with 98 points after his non-points finish.

In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren-Mercedes now hold a commanding lead over Red Bull Racing, with 278 points to the latter's 249 points. Ferrari are third with 165 points, and Mercedes GP sit fourth on 126 points. Renault are fifth on 89 points, Force India sixth with 47 points, followed by Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso with 31, 15 and 10 points respectively.