Webber takes maiden win despite penalty
Eurosport - Sun, 12 Jul 16:57:00 2009
Mark Webber became the first Australian for 29 years to win a Formula One grand prix as Red Bull took a one-two with Sebastian Vettel second at the Nurburgring in Germany.
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Pole sitter Webber won by a comfortable nine seconds from the home driver despite serving a drive-through penalty for an incident with Rubens Barrichello at the first corner.
Felipe Massa was third in the Ferrari ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg, with the Brawns of Jenson Button and Barrichello following and Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) completing the points positions.
Webber and Vettel are now ahead of Barrichello in the drivers' standings, with Vettel only 1.5 points clear of his colleague and 21 behind leader Button.
The start provided thrills and spills as Lewis Hamilton charged from fifth to first heading into turn one but picked up a puncture on the way through after one of his rear tyres clipped Webber's RB5.
The McLaren man, sporting fresh bodywork and an impressive new double diffuser this weekend, had looked ready to challenge for the podium but after running wide of the right-hander and coming back into the fray was forced to trundle round for an immediate pitstop.
Webber had moved sideways to block off a quick Barrichello and collided with the Brawn - with no damage to either car - before having to concede P1. The incident was soon investigated and a penalty issued.
Finn Kovalainen, not blessed with the new car at Hamilton's disposal, had fought his way up the other side of the track from sixth to third ahead of Massa.
Button soon passed Massa only to come up against the slower McLaren, which over the opening laps held up the traffic as the front two sped away. Vettel was stuck in sixth after a slow start.
After 13 laps of the 60-lap race Button pitted due to graining on his tyres, while a similarly-suffering Barrichello came in on the next lap, Webber choosing that moment to follow him in and serve his penalty.
Four laps later Webber was called in and re-emerged ahead of Button, and with Massa temporarily leading and holding up Barrichello, he gained plenty of time on the frustrated Brazilian.
Massa did not pit until the 25th lap, with Webber having carved around two seconds a lap out of his 'lead'; when everyone had stopped Webber was only eight seconds behind and charging.
Adrian Sutil, racing with the front-runners, came out of the pitlane and collided with Raikkonen, breaking off part of his rear wing which had to be replaced on the following lap - costing him a chance of taking Force India's first points.
The Finn, who later retired with an engine problem - Sebastien Buemi having already limped out in possibly his final race with Toro Rosso - faces a post-race investigation by race stewards.
With less than 30 laps remaining Webber fought his way to within a second of Barrichello, with Button third.
The Brawns were again suffering from tyre degradation and Barrichello came in for a second time; a problem with the fuelling rig meant they had to use the reserve, the stop lasting 11 seconds.
Worse was to come: when the driver got on the radio to check that he had changed to a two-stop strategy, he was told by his team he was still on a three-stopper, likewise Button.
Seventeen laps from the finish, and with growing excitement in the Red Bull garage, Webber stopped cleanly and rejoined behind Vettel and in front of Massa, who had been looking to pass the youngster for a while.
The two cars soon pitted themselves and after the final stops moved second-placed Nico Rosberg and the Brawns out of the way, the top three coasted to their podium finishes.
It marked the first race win for an Australian in F1 since former world champion Alan Jones took victory in Las Vegas in 1981.
Alonso was in form in the last laps, threatening to pass the Brawns, but had to hold off while Kovalainen took an impressive eighth spot.
Toyota's Timo Glock, who started from the pitlane after an incident in qualifying, did brilliantly to battle for points but dropped off in the latter stages, squeezing home ahead of a tight pack consisting of Nick Heidfeld (BMW), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) and Kazuki Nakajima (Williams).
Behind them were Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault), Robert Kubica (BMW), Sutil, Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Hamilton.
Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport