Webber, who started from pole, had a coming together with Rubens Barrichello at the start. He dropped to second behind Barrichello but the two streaked away from the chasing pack. By lap 10, the pair was 14s up the road from the rest. Bar rain, or something unexpected happening, the race appeared to be between Barrichello and Webber. Then on lap 12 came news that the Australian had been handed a drive through penalty for causing the collision with Rubens Barrichello off the start line. That looked to have effectively destroyed Webber's race. But, Webber bounced back in some style, driving at a blistering pace and eventually eking out a substantial lead over the chasing pack, led by his team mate Vettel.
Vettel himself had trouble at the start, dropping down the order and then being stuck behind the longer-fueled Ferrari of Felipe Massa. That effectively ruined any chances he had of a win but superior strategy saw him get ahead of the Ferrari at the next stop and eventually finish 2nd.
The surprise of the race was Nico Rosberg, who started 14th, and finished a strong 4th, ahead of both the Brawn cars, who started at the sharp end of the field. He came through almost unnoticed, another driver using a longer first stint to allow him to get ahead of some the cars who had started lighter at the start.
Alonso played a similar strategy to finish 7th. The rain had caught out the Spaniard during the second part of qualifying yesterday and he used a longer first stint to get ahead of a bunch of drivers. He even managed to have a spin at the start and finished right behind the two Brawn cars, hounding them towards the end
The two Brawn cars, on a slightly-strange three-stopper saw their races compromised by their strategy and then towards the last third of the race by temperatures dropping at the circuit. The Brawns towards the end looked to be in real trouble and were visibly struggling to get heat into their tyres. They would both finish 5th and 6th - Button ahead of Barrichello. This after Rubens led the race in the initial stages.
At the start, Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren made a great getaway off the line, and it almost looked like he would snatch the lead, but contact with Webber meant that he picked up a left-rear puncture. He limped around the first lap and the field soon lapped him. He wondered out loud at one stage in the race if he should retire and save his engine and gearbox but the team urged him on, hoping for some rain, which never came. The World Champion ended up dead last. Team mate Heikki Kovalinen did manage to get a point for the team though. He drove a strong race from 6th on the grid.
There was heart ache for Force India as once again Kimi Raikkonen seemed to scupper away any chance they had for points. Adrian Sutil lost a place at the start dropping to 8th, but was lapping strongly and at one stage, just before his first stop, was up to 2nd. It all came to tears on lap 27 when he had a coming together with Raikkonen when coming out of the pits. It destroyed his front wing endplates, and the German had to come into the pits the next lap, effectively ending any chances that Force India had for points. Giancarlo Fisichella in the sister Force India had a decent race and finished 11th.
Speaking after the race, the almost 33-year old Webber said, "It's incredible. I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone. The only thing I thought could beat me was the rain. I lost Rubens completely off the start and banged into him. It's not normally my style, so I had to take the drive-through and recover from that. It's a great day for me. It was a difficult winter, but I had great people around me."
His teammate Sebastian Vettel was gracious, "Mark was unbeatable. I'm very happy with the result. It was quite a good recovery from quite a bad start."
Rubens Barrichello meanwhile lost his top completely after the race. He had the following to say to a BBC reporter in the pits, "... it was a good show from the team on how to lose a race today. I'm terribly upset with the way things went. I did all I had to do. I went first on the first corner and then they made me lose the race. If it is really what's going on, we're going to end up losing both championships. I feel sorry for myself, the team. To be very honest, I wish I could get on the plane and go home. I don't want to talk to anyone in the team. It will be all 'bla bla bla' and I don't want to hear that.".
Today's result has tightened up the race in both championships. The Red Bull duo have moved ahead of Barrichello in the race to catch Button and have closed to within 20 points of the constructors' lead. A season that looked to have Button and Brawn's name written all over it seems to have come alive.
Final Result:
1. Webber, Red Bull-Renault 1h36:43.310
2. Vettel, Red Bull-Renault + 9.252
3. Massa, Ferrari + 15.906
4. Rosberg, Williams-Toyota + 21.099
5. Button, Brawn-Mercedes + 23.609
6. Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes + 24.468
7. Alonso, Renault + 24.888
8. Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes + 58.692
9. Glock, Toyota + 1:01.457
10. Heidfeld, BMW Sauber + 1:01.925
11. Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes + 1:02.327
12. Nakajima, Williams-Toyota + 1:02.876
13. Piquet, Renault + 1:08.328
14. Kubica, BMW Sauber + 1:09.555
15. Sutil, Force India-Mercedes + 1:11.941
16. Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1:30.225
17. Trulli, Toyota + 1:30.970
18. Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes + 1 lap
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