MOTORSPORT: Ferrari fairytale but Webber 'wins' too

After qualifying poorly, Webber came from 19th on the grid to finish fourth in Spain and, with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton not finishing, the 12 points the Aussie collected have hoisted him back up to second in the Formula One World Championship, behind Alonso.

“I'm very happy with this result. There was a bit of attrition at the front, but I scored a lot of points and it was a good finish to the weekend [after the DRS (drag reduction system, or driver-operated rear wing) problem in qualifying],” Webber said.

The Valencia street circuit generally has produced dull racing, but not this time.

Vettel was on course to win, dominating the first half of the race after comfortably taking pole position, but his car mysteriously petered out, as did the similarly Renault-engined Lotus of French-Swiss rising star Romain Grosjean, who had been running second.

It was a classic Alonso performance from 11th on the grid, while Michael Schumacher, who started alongside the Spaniard on the sixth row, wound up third – the first podium since his comeback in 2010.

The Lotus-Renault of Kimi Raiikonen was sandwiched between them in second place.

At 43, Schumi is the oldest driver to have stood on an F1 podium since Australia's triple world champion Sir Jack Brabham did it at 44 years of age, after the 1970 British GP.

Webber made a good start from his lowly grid position, immediately gaining two spots, but he then was trapped behind fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo.
After just five laps Webber found himself 22 seconds behind Vettel and he called the middle stages the race “more like Formula Ford than F1”.

He was involved in a six-car dice for 10th place and, losing a lot of time, decided to pit to switch to the option tyre compound on lap 20.

A safety car on lap 29 bunched up the pack and Webber was ninth at the restart, then dropped to 13th as he made his second and final pitstop.

He rejoined the race right behind Schumacher and they carved their way through the field in the closing laps.

“I got pretty close to Michael a couple of times, but it's not easy to pass on these streets,” Webber said.

“I was happy to give the guys making just one stop some of their own medicine today; in Canada they were picking off people in the closing laps and here it was the two-stoppers picking them off.

“But it was only towards the end of the race (run in 45-degree heat) that our strategy came into its own, but it did - and it was a great effort by the team.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Webber “drove a tremendous race and the strategy worked well”.

“Mark started on the hard tyres then went on to the softer tyres, picking off cars getting into tyre trouble at the end, so it was a great recovery [from 19th],” Horner said.

“Others had their bad luck but, in addition to Mark's drive, another positive is that we leave Valencia knowing we have a fast car – and we have extended our lead in the constructors' championship.”

Next up, on July 8, is the British GP, where Webber won so emphatically two years ago.

“I love Silverstone. It's a fantastic track, with some really challenging fast corners, and I hope the RB8 is competitive there,” Webber said.

“I live in the UK, so it's like a second home race for me, and it's the home race of the team, which is based just down the road in Milton Keynes. I hope we can bring home a good result.”

“It was a totally unexpected win, given our grid position,” said Alonso, having become the first two-time winner from the eight GPs so far this season.

“Thinking back to qualifying, what happened confirms there is still a lot of work to be done - and we have to be honest about this.

“We will do all we can to win this championship, but we still don't have the quickest car and we must push to reach this objective as quickly as possible.”

Ferrari's still relatively new technical director Pat Fry said that not having had any grounds for expecting this victory “makes it all the more sweet”.

“We profited from the reliability problems of others, but that's part of the game and it's a reminder of how important it is to ensure that the cars are sufficiently robust and not just fast,” Fry said.

“Fernando was fantastic - aggressive when he had to attack in the opening moments and very clever in managing every stage of the race.

“We must improve our performance because this weekend the Red Bull showed it had made quite a step forward again and we aren't where we want to be, meaning ahead of everyone.

“We have more developments coming, but we are perfectly aware that our competitors won't be twiddling their thumbs.

“We are facing three races in four weeks and we must not relax, not even for a second.”

And an immensely proud and politically astute Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said Valencia had been “Ferrari at its very best, the one everyone wants to see!”

“Fernando was extraordinary … it's hard to find the words to describe his race.

“Today has shown the spirit of a team that never gives up and it also reflects the spirit of our homeland in Emilia Romagna, where so many people are going through a particularly difficult time after the earthquake a few weeks back.”

“I think that was the best answer to give to everybody who started doubting our [Mercedes team] work: get the car together and fight back; never give up, as anything can happen,” Schumacher said.

“That's what team work is about.

“I didn't think a podium was possible - not even at the end of the race, because it was pretty busy in the last laps and I had lost count of where I was.

“Then when I crossed the line, I asked the guys where I was and they said: 'Third - on the podium!' It's one of those moments that you enjoy deeply as a driver.

“We were close a couple of times but it was great for it to happen in a spectacular race like this, through strategy and lots of passing on a circuit where overtaking is difficult.”

Mercedes-Benz motorsport chief Norbert Haug, the man who championed Schumacher's comeback, said the podium was reward for the team “always believing in each other”.

“As for the rumour spread by another team that Michael used his DRS flap [under yellow flags late in the race] where he should not have done, I can confirm that this was not the case, as our data proved and the stewards of the meeting confirmed,” Haug said.

Haug also talked up Nico Rosberg.

“Nico started sixth and lost five places during the first lap, which was a big handicap - so to climb back to sixth place [behind the Force India-Mercedes of Nico Hulkenberg] was a good recovery,” he said.

“Since his win in China, Nico has scored one point less than Fernando Alonso, who brought home the most points in the last six races.”

Ricciardo ran as high as third and, for several laps, fourth as other drivers stopped to change tyres.

Despite being biffed by Russian Vitaly Petrov's Caterham car in the closing laps, Ricciardo recovered to cross the finish line 12th – and was promoted to 11th after a 20-second penalty on Venezualan Pastor Maldonado for punting Lewis Hamilton out of the race – and a podium position.

“The final result of the race [without points] is disappointing, but I think I drove well and the team deserved better,” Ricciardo said.

“Apart from my finish position, it was a really good race.

“I had a good getaway, passing a couple of cars, but the opening lap was a bit of a mess and as I tried to overtake some cars down the inside, [Mexican] Sergio Perez got me round the outside.

“My first stint was strong and I was in touch with our competitors, then the second stint was also good.

“The safety car [mid-race] did not really work in our favour. After my second stop I was pushing to the end and I had Petrov going quite slowly in front of me,

“I went to get around him and he defended by going a bit wide, so I tried to switch back and I feel I gave him some racing room, but we still made contact because perhaps his move was a bit too aggressive.

“Anyway, that cost me a chance to get into the points, but there were some positives, even if they are not so visible from the outside.”
Teammate Vergne has been penalised 10 places on the grid for the British GP, and fined 25,000 euros (about A$31,200) for the collision with Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen that brought out the safety car.

Formula One World Championship driver standings after eight of 20 rounds -
1. Fernando Alonso (Spain, Ferrari) 111 points;
2. Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 91;
3. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 88;
4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Red Bull-Renault) 85;
5. Nico Rosberg (Germany, Mercedes) 75;
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Lotus-Renaut) 73;
7. Romain Grosjean (France, Lotus-Renault) 53;
8. Jenson Button (GB, McLaren-Mercedes) 49;
9. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Sauber-Ferrari) 39;
10. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuala, Williams-Renault) 29;
11. Paul di Resta (GB, Force India-Mercedes) 27;
12. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan, Sauber-Ferrari) 21;
13. Michael Schumacher (Germany, Mercedes) 17;
14. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany, Force India-Mercedes) 17;
15. Bruno Senna (Brazil, Williams-Renault) 16;
16. Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 11;
17. Jean-Eric Vergne (France, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 4;
18. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 2.

F1 constructor standings -
1. Red Bull-Renault 176 points;
2. McLaren-Mercedes 137;
3. Lotus-Renault 126;
4. Ferrari 122;
5. Mercedes 92;
6. Sauber-Ferrari 60;
7. Williams-Renault 45;
8. Force India-Mercedes 44;
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6.