Rosberg wins crazy British Grand Prix

A chaotic but superb Grand Prix unfolded at Silverstone resulting in a second win of the season for Mercedes Nico Rosberg, but as with his first victory in Monaco it’s likely to be over shadowed by more tyre controversy for Pirelli.

Four massive blow outs on the left rear tyre punctuated the race causing concern for all the teams, was it a proper tyre issue or was it the kerbs on the track causing the problems? The drivers were told to try and stay off the kerbs, especially around turn 4 where the first two happened on the following Wellington straight to erstwhile leader Lewis Hamilton and then Felipe Massa.

However the next two came down Hanger straight, seemingly making the issue one of Pirelli’s construction. With a rainy Friday and a cooler Saturday the tyres hadn’t been subjected to the higher temperatures experienced today so the teams weren’t sure how much to push the tyres. In the end the two safety car intermissions caused by the third blow out of Jean-Eric Vergne and then Sebastian Vettel’s shock retirement with gearbox failure probably helped to prevent many more tyre problems but Pirelli won’t like the novelty of having to see road sweepers clearing their rubber away in the middle of a race.

Whatever the causes, Pirelli are already locked in talks with the FIA about what happened but it should take nothing away from Rosberg who drove brilliantly to keep everything under control to win. He didn’t have a great start from the front row and tried to slot in behind the pole sitting Hamilton but Vettel was straight through. He settled in behind those two, not falling away but not putting on too much pressure either. In the end the race came to him, first after his team mate Hamilton suffered his puncture, then Vettel’s retirement sparked jubilation from the crowd as the Mercedes surged past.

Rosberg dived in for a third stop as the safety car was called to clear Vettel’s Red Bull from the start/finish straight so had fresh rubber for the final six lap sprint to the finish. Immediately behind him was Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus followed by Adrian Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo, all of whom had chosen not to stop. Behind them was Mark Webber who had stopped for new rubber and was on a mission.

Rosberg was told to look after his Pirelli’s and once Webber had surged into second place, the Mercedes eeked out a fastest lap with four laps to go. It was probably enough to keep him ahead, one more lap and the Red Bull might have had him, as it was Rosberg won by 0.7. He’d done just enough.

Mercedes were worried about their tyre wear, but with the rather obvious exception of Lewis, they seemed ok. Certainly the tyre issues they experienced in Bahrain and Spain seem to not be as obvious, although it’s certainly arguable if Rosberg would have been able to catch Vettel, as is whether Lewis would have been able to keep Vettel behind.

Whatever though, Rosberg picked his way through the tyre littered track to collect 25 points which he clung on to despite a post-race reprimand for going too fast in a yellow flag zone. Even though the team are not talking about the championship their rivals will still be looking ever more earnestly at the silver cars on race days. Not for them the drop down the field anymore.

Webber so close to his third Silverstone victory

Mark Webber would have been a thoroughly worthy winner of the British Grand Prix. A storming drive after another of his catastrophic starts left him way down in the pack minus part of his front wing after a touch with Romain Grosjean.

At the end of the first lap he had plummeted down to about 15^th place. But we all know this Aussie is a fighter and in his final race at Silverstone he wasn’t about to give up. At his first stop he got his wing changed and was soon up to the fringes of the top 10; with the safety cars he was able to gain further time.

Just before the Vettel safety car he managed to pass Fernando Alonso and was chasing after Kimi for the podium. After he pitted for the final time under caution he lay 5^th behind Rosberg, Kimi, Sutil and Ricciardo.

Green flag, six laps to go. Webber tore ahead of the Toro Rosso and Force India within a few laps and was soon on to the back of Kimi. The Finn had questioned why he hadn’t come into the pits as well but it was too late now. He put up a fight, hanging on round the outside as Webber dived into Copse beside the Lotus. Kimi was out of it though and dropping off the podium.

Webber now had four laps left to close a 2 second gap to Rosberg, he went for it, he really went for it, bringing it down to under a second with a lap to go. He was in DRS range but it wasn’t quite enough, but one more lap and he’d have been by the Mercedes.

A fantastic drive and a reminder of just why he’ll be missed so much when he goes at the end of the season. A lot of the media are saying they’ll miss him because he speaks his mind which is certainly true, but ahead of that is the fact he’s a proper racer and one of the best passers in the sport.

At the head of the championship…

Vettel suffered his first retirement of the year through no fault of his own as his gearbox let him down while leading fairly comfortably. He didn’t have a large gap but he certainly didn’t seem stretched. Will this worry him? I don’t think so, he was well clear of his supposed championship challengers and I think we can be assured he’ll be scoring heavily next weekend in Germany.

The real worry is the pace of the drivers who are meant to be giving him a fight. Ferrari struggled in Canada and despite a charge to the podium for Alonso they had already suffered a poor qualifying (only 9^th and 11^th), so even though they have significantly better speed on Sunday they’ve already given their rivals an advantage, one which is very difficult to get back against a team like Red Bull.

Now with Mercedes staying afloat during the races they have to fight even harder to get back near the front. Alonso has complained that the updates they’re bringing are not giving them the performance gains they should be.

Ferrari isn’t making enough of what is fundamentally a decent car and with the on-going tyre saga complicating matters still further it’s unclear if they’re going to be able to get level again with Red Bull.

Despite all this Alonso managed to claim another podium with third place. After being crowded out at the start he came back through the field, then made a second mini come back after dropping down to 8^th when pitting behind the safety car. Some good passes and a brilliant avoidance of Sergio Perez’s McLaren suffering the fourth tyre failure and he was on the podium. He’s now within a race win of Vettel, but on current form it won’t remain like that for long without a massive improvement.

Kimi Raikkonen ran the passive DRS system for the first time this weekend. They’ve been trialling it in practice on occasion since Germany last year, but deemed it ready for use this weekend. It’s still a work in progress so how much benefit it brought this weekend is up for debate but it’s nice to see innovation.

It basically decreases drag on the rear wing to increase top speed via a little slot gap on the car, so they can have a DRS effect all the time. The problem has been to make sure the wing reconnects for the corners, but what ultimately it should mean is that they can run more wing for better speed in the corners without the drag it’ll cause on the straights. It’s a good device but one which is still in its early stages.

However, Lotus still looks like they are falling back. Like Ferrari the quali pace isn’t there, so they can’t exploit their race pace, which now seems isn’t enough to pull them back near the front anyway. They’re complaining the tyre choices are too conservative now as well which lends itself more to Red Bull and Mercedes, although I wonder what would have happened if Pirelli had brought the softer compounds rather than the medium and hard?

Kimi managed to claw some points back to Vettel but he’ll question if they’d pitted behind the second safety car whether he’d have stayed on the podium. He’ll live with 5^th but it’s not enough right now and his team mate Grosjean still fails to consistently deliver to keep Lotus in the teams title fight.

Mercedes join the title hunt?

Rosberg may have won the race but it was Hamilton who was leading the way this weekend, starting from pole position and leading convincingly ahead of Vettel.

It is debatable if he’d have stayed ahead although team Principal Ross Brawn said Hamilton’s tyres were in great shape until the failure. Despite this Lewis still drove brilliantly to climb up from the back to end up in fourth position challenging Alonso for a podium.

Mercedes are progressing quickly this season. They’ve gone from not just fast on a Saturday to struggling on a Sunday but to regular contenders. How much this is down to the post-Spanish Grand Prix test session is another thing open to debate, but it certainly seems to have been significant in helping them understand a few things.

They moved up to second in the constructor’s championship today, three points ahead of Ferrari and only 48 behind Red Bull. They are and will continue to be a significant threat on their current form. Germany will probably be a similar temperature if not cooler at the Nurburgring next weekend which will suit them, so another win is certainly on the cards. Lewis will be hoping it’s time for his turn on the top step.

Rest of the top 10

Felipe Massa rocketed away from the line to go from 11^th to 5^th, unfortunately for him he was the second person to suffer a tyre failure and he dropped to the back of the pack. A good recovery to 6^th, but it could have been a lot more.

Adrian Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo drove good races, at one point Sutil looked good for a podium. After the final safety car they dropped back but still ended with some decent points in 7^th and 8^th.

Paul di Resta took 9^th but it could have been so much more, especially with the incidents going on in this race. He’d qualified 5^th but his car was found to be underweight resulting in him being sent back to the back of the grid. So another qualifying problem meant it was time for what is now a trademark comeback through the field. He was impressive throughout and his battle with Lewis a real highlight. Nico Hulkenberg did well to drag his Sauber up to 10^th and claim his first point for 5 races.

McLaren suffered another poor weekend. No cars in Q3 again and no points again despite both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez being in the points as racing got underway again after the 2^nd safety car. Perez’s tyre died while Button just seemed to be shuffled down the order with no way of fighting back. It’s not getting any better for McLaren which is strange given that they’re usually such good developers. Makes you wonder if they even know what’s wrong with it in the first place.

One week until we’re at the Nurburgring

The questions about the tyres will rage all the way into the next race in Germany. Many drivers are worried about the safety aspect while others are wondering why some teams voted against returning to 2012 tyres or even changing the current construction.

If we’re going to suffer tyre failures so consistently then something needs to be done and quickly, because at one point you began to wonder if they should stop the race something that apparently race director Charlie Whiting was considering too. The teams and Pirelli are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation.

Rosberg took the win and Mercedes look very strong right now with Hamilton too. As we head to Germany they look like they’re becoming proper title contenders to join Alonso and Raikkonen. The only thing is I don’t think we saw anything today that will have Vettel unduly worried. He may have suffered a mechanical failure but he was leading at the time and didn’t look under threat. That has to change in Germany.

all photo's taken from autosport.com