Mark Webber enjoyed a controlled win at Silverstone on Sunday as Red Bull team-mate and pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel recovered from a first-lap off. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg completed the podium for McLaren and Mercedes GP although Ferrari failed to score on a miserable afternoon which included a drive-through penalty for Fernando Alonso.
As on Friday and Saturday, conditions remained ideal in Northamptonshire on Sunday as crowds made the most of ice-creams as opposed to the feared umbrellas.
Vettel and Webber lined up on another Red Bull Racing front row although it promised to be a difficult afternoon for reigning Champion Jenson Button, who started a lowly 14th following a tough qualifying session.
However, the status quo was reversed just seconds after the red lights went out, with Webber enjoying a great getaway and diving down the inside of his team-mate into Copse.
With Vettel having run wide, the slightest contact with Hamilton at Copse was all it had taken to ensure a right-rear puncture and subsequent trip across the Maggots run-off area for the former, meaning an unscheduled pit-stop and lost time dropped him one and a half minutes behind the leaders.
Just behind, the Ferraris came together as Felipe Massa's right-front wheel touched the left-rear of Fernando Alonso - who had made a bad start - at Becketts. Just metres later, a second touch – with Massa now ahead – ensured a right-rear puncture for the Brazilian and, like Vettel, he also pitted at the end of the lap. At the front, Webber began to extend his lead from Hamilton, Kubica and Rosberg, with Alonso attacking the Mercedes.
Positions remained very much the same until the pit-stop phase began, with Rosberg being able to jump Kubica for third place by running longer than the Renault driver.
However, the erstwhile third to fifth runners then found themselves trailing cars which were yet to pit – most notably Alguersuari and Button, with Rosberg pulling off a fantastic move to overtake the Toro Rosso on the outside of Brooklands, with Alonso then moving ahead of his compatriot at Maggots.
In a racy mood, the Spaniard then proceeded to pass Kubica, placing his car on the outside of Vale but narrowly avoiding contact and cutting the apex of Club, rejoining ahead of the Renault as both drivers complained about each other via team radio.
After starting 14th and rising to eighth by the end of the first lap, Button's sole stop on Lap 21 allowed the Englishman to rejoin behind Rosberg and Alonso but leapfrog Rubens Barrichello and Kamui Kobayashi - who both ran in points positions for the duration of the race - plus Michael Schumacher. Just a few minutes later, however, sixth placed Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty for his moment with Kubica, with rules stating that the punishment must be taken within three laps.
As Alonso elected to wait for as long as possible, a deployment of the Safety Car – for on-track debris from Pedro de la Rosa's Sauber - resulted in the 2006 Silverstone winner having to come in on the Lap 31 restart and plummet to the back of the pack immediately. From then on, he plus team-mate Massa and Vettel continued to provide much excitement courtesy of their attempted recoveries.
Back in the top ten, Kubica was forced to retire with a suspected engine failure before the ever-unfortunate de la Rosa started the second half to his season with another none-finish, having qualified in the top ten and run in the points since the start.
With Webber stretching out another 5-second lead at the front, Hamilton enjoyed a comfortable second as Rosberg – who could keep Button at bay by no more than a second – fended off the World Champion, who sporadically attacked the German but with little success.
Barrichello and Kobayashi held onto highly respectable fifth and sixth places, to rack up yet more points for Williams (which picks up a double points finish for the first time this year) and Sauber, although all eyes were on the Germans who battled behind.
First, Adrian Sutil caught and passed Michael Schumacher for seventh at Brooklands as Vettel overtook Massa for 12th at Vale.
The second Red Bull then began a late-race charge between Laps 37 and 40, undoubtedly helped by the much-needed Safety Car, to take a luridly out-of-shape Vitaly Petrov for tenth at Village, Nico Hülkenberg for ninth at Brooklands and Michael for eighth in the same place. The run only stopped courtesy of Adrian Sutil, who defended in a strong but fair fashion.
Ferrari's chances of points soon disintegrated as Massa lost control and suffered a dramatic spin on the exit of Luffield, immediately having to pit for new tyres and losing more time as his mechanics rushed into the pit lane. Alonso also had to come in again, following a pass on Liuzzi around the outside of Brooklands which resulted in contact.
Another car-to-car touch was to follow on the penultimate lap, as Vettel finally stole seventh from Sutil at The Loop, with Adrian then managing to fend off Schumacher and Hülkenberg.
Despite the highly entertaining afternoon of racing at Silverstone, the focus is likely to remain with Red Bull this week after winner Webber's comments – 'Not bad for a number two driver!' – were broadcast to television viewers moments after the Australian took the chequered flag.
Round 11 of 19 will see F1 return to Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix in two weeks' time
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