Webber Gets F-1 Gift in Hungary as Vettel Is Caught `Sleeping'
Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber celebrates with his team members in the paddock of the Hungaroring circuit on August 01, 2010 in Budapest.
Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber celebrates with his team members in the paddock of the Hungaroring circuit on August 01, 2010 in Budapest. Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
Mark Webber won the Hungarian Grand Prix to regain the lead in the Formula One championship after a lapse by Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel, who started yesterday’s race in pole position, had his chances of victory at the Hungaroring near Budapest set back by an early drive-through penalty and eventually finished third, behind Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
“It was a bit of a gift for me but I haven’t had many of them, so I’ll take today’s,” Webber said at the post-race news conference. “A 1-2 was our goal, unfortunately we didn’t get that but we still got a big chunk of points.”
Webber took a 4-point lead atop the drivers’ standings after previous leader Lewis Hamilton dropped out on lap 24 of 70 with a gearbox problem and his McLaren teammate Jenson Button finished eighth. Red Bull also overtook McLaren in the constructors’ championship.
Vettel has now converted just one of his seven pole positions this season into a victory. He maintained his lead at the start yesterday, while Webber was overtaken in second place by Alonso. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa kept fourth place.
Vettel’s superior pace enabled him to build a 9-second lead by lap 11, and soon after the field closed up as the safety car came out when debris was being cleared. Vettel went into the pits, as did most other drivers, though was then handed a drive- through penalty for failing to keep within 10 car lengths of the safety car.
‘Sleeping’
“I guess at the restart I was sleeping,” he said. “I was probably relying too much on the radio, I lost the connection and didn’t hear anything. I should have won, but in the end I was third and I am very disappointed.”
The slip allowed Alonso to move into second place behind Webber, who headed the field because he hadn’t pitted. Webber surged into a 23-second lead, which enabled him to make a pit stop and keep first place.
The Australian saw out the final 27 laps for his fourth win this season and sixth in 150 career Grands Prix. Massa finished fourth in a race where he suffered serious head injuries during qualifying last year. Renault’s Vitaly Petrov was fifth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in a Williams and Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa.
“To maximize your opportunities is always good irrespective of what happens to your rivals,” Webber added.
A move by Michael Schumacher toward the end almost put his former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello into a wall, though the Brazilian got past to finish 10th. Mercedes GP’s Schumacher was later given a 10-place grid penalty for the next race.
‘Dangerous Maneuver’
“It was the most dangerous maneuver against me in my career,” Barrichello told the British Broadcasting Corp. after his 301st race.
Schumacher, the record seven-time world champion, defended his actions.
“I was making it obvious to him to go on the other side, there was more room there, but he chose not to,” Schumacher said. “I ran a little wide and started sliding, it got a bit tight.”
Among off-track incidents, Renault’s Robert Kubica and Force India’s Adrian Sutil collided in the pits in the safety- car period, and a rear wheel on Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes worked loose and hurtled through the pit area. Renault and Mercedes each were fined $50,000.
Webber tops the drivers’ standings with 161 points, with Hamilton on 157. Vettel has 151, Button 147 and Alonso 141. In the constructors’ event, Red Bull has 312 points, McLaren 304 and Ferrari 238.
“It’s nice to have more points than anybody else, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves as there are some big events coming up,” Webber said.
Formula One now has a midseason break. The Belgian Grand Prix, the 13th race on the 19-event calendar, is Aug. 29 at Spa- Francorchamps.
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter-Joseph Hegarty in London at phegarty@bloomberg.net
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