MOTOR SPORT FORMULA ONE CHAMPIONSHIP Hungarian Grand Prix:MARK WEBBER seized control of the Formula One drivers' championship after he made a risky strategy call pay off to claim victory at an uncharacteristically dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix.
On Saturday Webber had said he would have to work hard to stay awake in a 70-lap race where overtaking is virtually impossible and which traditionally turns into a procession. And when pole-winning team-mate Sebastian Vettel blasted off into a commanding lead in the opening laps, Webber would have been forgiven for nodding off as he tucked into third when Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso benefited from starting on the clean side to claim second. A tiresome wait until he could use his greater pace to pass the Spaniard in the pit stops looked inevitable.
But, on lap 15, debris on the circuit between turns 13 and 14 saw the safety car deployed and the race suddenly got a whole lot more exciting. Vettel, leading by more than 10 seconds, immediately dived for the pits to take on the harder and more durable Bridgestone tyre compound.
He was immediately followed by almost the whole field. The congestion in the pitlane led to chaos, with Force India’s Adrian Sutil colliding with Renault’s Robert Kubica after the Pole was released into his path and also Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg attempting to leave his pit box with his rear right tyre improperly attached. It immediately dislodged and bounced through the Sauber pit area, narrowly missing mechanics.
On track, though, Red Bull Racing were gambling with Webber. The plan was to keep Webber out on the softer tyre and use the Red Bull’s better pace to try to build a sufficient lead, so when he eventually visited the pits he would be able to emerge in front of Alonso and steal second place while Vettel cruised to a facile win.
Webber, in the lead when the safety car peeled off, immediately began to rattle off fastest laps, building his advantage over Alonso in pursuit of the 20 or so second gap he’d need. Vettel, in second, was content to keep Alonso marginally behind, slowing the Ferrari, safe in the knowledge that when Webber pitted he would retake the lead.
It didn’t play as planned, however, the German suddenly told he was under investigation for not maintaining the required gap to the safety car during the caution period. Within a few laps he was handed a drive-through penalty that would drop him to third. Webber was suddenly in the box seat, but only if he could hammer out more than 10 laps at qualifying pace on tyres that were in danger of wearing out.
By lap 43 he’d done it, pounding out fastest lap after fastest lap, often snaking around the Hungaroring over three seconds faster than the trailing Alonso and Vettel. With 23 seconds in hand he was able to make a comfortable stop and rejoin five seconds ahead of the pack. By the time the Australian took the chequered flag he again had almost 20 seconds over Alonso, who held on to second despite being pressured heavily by Vettel in the closing laps.
“Ultimately, it wasn’t a massive gamble but it wasn’t without risk,”Webber said. “We knew the option (soft) tyre was pretty sturdy but I still needed to pull out over 20 seconds. I can tell you, the front right tyre was not enjoying the last 10 laps for sure. It was totally gone.”
Vettel admitted he had been “asleep” when the safety car left the track but questioned the penalty he had been handed.
“At the restart, I was sleeping,” Vettel said. “I was relying too much on the radio but early in the race I lost the radio connection, so I couldn’t hear anything. I saw the SC boards and was waiting for instructions, so I didn’t see the lights (go out) on the safety car.
“I was sure we had another lap,” he added. “Then I saw Mark at the last corner and the safety car going into the pits, so I knew it was a restart. I lost a lot of time there, which was not the intention. And then I got the drive-through.
“I didn’t understand what was going on and why I was penalised.”
With Lewis Hamilton exiting on lap 24 with gearbox problems, Webber now has 161 points, four clear of Hamilton and 10 ahead of Vettel.
Michael Schumacher was issued with a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix after an incident yesterday involving former team-mate Rubens Barrichello in which the German almost forced the Williams driver into the wall as the Brazilian passed him for 10th place on the pit straight.
TOP 10
1. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault 1hr 41mins 05.571s
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari +00:17.821
3. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull Renault 00:19.252
4. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:27.474
5. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 01:13.192
6. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Williams-Cosworth 01:16.723
7. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) BMW Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap
8. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1 lap
9. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) BMW Sauber - Ferrari 1 lap
10. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams - Cosworth 1 lap
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
TOP TEN
DRIVERS:1. Webber 161 points; 2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 157; 3. Vettel 151; 4. Button 147; 5. Alonso 141; 6. Massa 97; 7. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP 94; 8. Robert Kubica (Poland) Renault 89; 9. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 38; 10. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 35
CONSTRUCTORS:1. RedBull-Renault 312 points; 2. McLaren-Mercedes 304; 3. Ferrari 238; 4. Mercedes 132; 5. Renault 106; 6. Force India-Mercedes 47; 7. Williams-Cosworth 40; 8. BMW Sauber-Ferrari 23; 9. Toro Rosso- Ferrari 10; 10. Lotus-Cosworth 0; 10. HRT-Cosworth 0; 10. Virgin - Cosworth 0.
