Webber cruises to victory with start to finish display

SPANISH GRAND PRIX:MARK WEBBER became the first man to win from pole position this season with a dominant lights to flag drive at the Spanish Grand Prix yesterday which reconfirmed Red Bull Racing's status as the team to beat.

Webber had secured his second pole position of the season with a blistering qualifying lap on Saturday, marginally ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel but almost a second clear of next nearest rival, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari. It was a gap which left the rest of a shocked grid to hope the kind of mechanical and climatic glitches that had upset the Austrian team in recent times would again hamper their progress.

But with the grid yesterday bathed in bright sunshine those faint hopes evaporated within seconds of the lights going out to signal the race start. Vettel briefly threatened, tucking in behind a fast-starting Webber and attempting a move inside on the run to the first turn, but Webber covered the move well. He then did the same again on the turn in, as Vettel this time went round the outside and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was forced to back out of a similar move on the inside.

With those threats dismissed Webber set about an unfussy drive to the flag, the clear pace advantage of his Red Bull car allowing him to steadily build a comfortable gap first to Vettel and then to Hamilton.

“It was a sensational weekend, we had a faultless grand prix,” Webber admitted of his second career victory. “It was an important part of the race to get out of turn one in the lead. It was quite tight but then I settled into a rhythm, looking after the tyres.”

It was a less comfortable afternoon for his team-mate. Vettel looked to be in control of second in the early stages, despite Hamilton being able to keep pace with the German. However, a bungled first stop cost the Red Bull driver valuable time and allowed Hamilton to go third.

On a track where overtaking is luxury, it looked a costly mistake.

Then with 13 laps left Vettel’s afternoon went from bad to worse. The German was forced to pit after running wide at turn seven, a problem with his front wing adjuster leading to an inability to manage his tyres.

And then, despite taking on new rubber, he was soon told to slow his pace dramatically as his brakes neared the end of their useful life.

The Red Bull driver’s attempt to reel in Hamilton seemed over as he slithered around the track, looking as if he would be pitched into the barrier every time he dabbed the brake pedal. But, with just two laps remaining, it was Hamilton who was in the wall, a blown left front tyre sending him into the gravel traps and out of the race.

“I was just cruising to the finish line, really,” Hamilton said.

“Obviously, there were like 40 or so laps on those tyres, so to keep up with Mark was impossible, so I just wanted to maintain the pace and keep the spot. It would have been great points for me so I’m absolutely blown away that it was the last two laps of the race that something happened, but this is motor racing and you just keep your chin up and look forward.”

The failure was a bonus for the struggling Vettel, who limped across the line third, behind Alonso, to net 15 points. That haul keeps him third in the title chase and 10 points adrift of series leader Jenson Button, who started and finished fifth yesterday.

“I don’t know how to feel,” Vettel said. “Third is not a bad position but I think we had a quite bad race today. The car is fast, but you need to be able to use it every single time. (At the moment) it is a 50 per cent chance of getting through: Mark had a race without any problems so for me it was the other way around.”

Alonso’s second place in front of his fans now leaves the Ferrari driver just three points behind Button and it also proved a boon for Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, the German scoring his best result of the season with fourth, after a race-long defensive struggle to keep Button at bay.

Spanish Grand Prix - How They Finished

(66 Laps)

1M Webber (Aus) Red Bull  1hr 35mins 44.101secs

2F Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:36:08.166

3S Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:36:35.439

4M Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:36:46.296

5J Button (Brit) McLaren 1:36:47.829

6F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:36:49.868

7A Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:36:57.042

8R Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:36:57.778

9R Barrichello (Bra) Williams 1:36:57.778,

10J Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap,

11V Petrov (Rus) Renault at 1 lap,

12Ki Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber at 1 lap,

13N Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP at 1 lap,

14L Hamilton (Brit) McLaren at 2 laps,

15V Liuzzi (Ita) Force India at 2 laps,

16N Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams at 2 laps,

17J Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 at 3 laps,

18T Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing at 3 laps,

19L di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing at 4 laps Not Classified:

20S Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 42 laps,

21K Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 27 laps,

22P de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 18 laps,

23B Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 0 laps,

24H Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 did not start.

DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:1 Button 70pts, 2 Alonso 67, 3 Vettel 60, 4 Webber 53, 5 Rosberg GP 50, 6 Hamilton 49, 7 Massa 49, 8 Kubica 44, 9 Schumacher GP 22, 10 Sutil 16, 11 Liuzzi 8, 12 Barrichello 7, 13 Petrov 6, 14 Alguersuari 3, 15 Hulkenberg 1.

MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP:1 McLaren 119pts, 2 Ferrari 116, 3 Red Bull 113, 4 Mercedes GP 72, 5 Renault 50, 6 Force India 24, 7 Williams 8, 8 Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 9 BMW Sauber 0, 10 Lotus F1 0, 11 HRT-F1 0, 12 Virgin Racing 0.