ALONSO'S TURN TO WIN!
(Image taken from Yahoo)
Silverstone. Not only a legendary circuit but our legendary circuit, not only that but one that's just been updated. The still wasn't much that could be done about the weather but the big news going into the weekend was that Force India was to replace Karthikeyan was Daniel Riccardo, an Aussie rookie who had been one of Red Bull's reserve drivers. Plenty had been said about him, specifically that there could potentially be a Red Bull seat with his name on it before long. In the meantime...well I certainly can't remember a major technical rule change in the middle of a Grand Prix weekend before so going into qualifying, it seemed as though everything was going to be up for grabs!
No one was taking anything for granted in Q1 and the McLarens in particular didn't seem to have that great a performance but still, all three Brits made it through though Buemi wasn't so lucky. Things got even better for the Brits when all of them survived Q2 for only the second time this season with Schumacher the biggest name to get booted early. So, then came Q3, Vettel was the first guy to get a hot time but Webber soon edged him and after that, every was so worried about the rain they didn't bother making any serious runs so Webber got his second pole of the season. Vettel grabbed P2 to complete the second all-Red Bull front row in succsession. Alonso grabbed P3, Massa P4 with Jenson slotting into P5. Further down, Di Resta grabbed P6 with the best qualifying performance of his career so far and Lewis was left to start down in P10!
In the race, well Jenson was having a pretty solid performance before an unattached wheelnut meant that he didn't get very far out of the pits. I was left swearing at the TV and I can only assume Jenson was swearing twice as loud.
Di Resta certainly didn't look out of his depth at the sharp end of the grid, OK Lewis took him to send him down to 7th but still, it wasn't bad for a rookie in a Force India. Then came a piece of stupidity from his pit crew. When bringing your guy in to the pits try to make sure you do not bring out his teammates's tyres. That blunder left Paul way down the field in 16th. Not long after that came a clash with Buemi which he survived but ultimately he spent the rest of the race going nowhere fast. When the dust settled he did make the chequered flag but only in 15th. Gutting for Paul but at least it shows what he is potentially capable of.
Lewis though was absolutely on fire. His bad qualifying performance counted for absolutely nothing as he included both compatriots in his change up the field, grabbed 5th with ease, then 4th despite going off briefly then took Alonso for 3rd. The Ferrari driver went on to retake him before the 2008 world champion could get much further up the field though but he still did well to hold off Vettel from 2nd later on. Eventually though he had to give up on a podium spot completely in the name of fuel saving...and that brought him back into the clutches of Massa and the result was a 'very' rough battle which Lewis won pretty much on the final corner to take 4th.
Up front, well Webber didn't last very long in the lead and was soon overtaken by Vettel and for a while it looked as though the reigning world champion was going to cruise his way to another win. Slight problem, the Red Pull pit crew had a braindead moment and that allowed Alonso into the lead! With Lewis then managing to hold off Vettel the Spaniard was pretty much untouchable from there on though there was some wishful thinking from the Red Bull camp. Bottom line though, Alonso went on to grab his first win of the season. Vettel had to settle for 2nd on this occasion with Webber left snapping at his teammates heels despite having better pace in 3rd.
So, here's what the championship looks like now. Vettel still leads, now on 204 points, Webber up to 2nd on 124. Alonso up to 3rd on 112. Lewis remains in 4th on 109(plus a win in China + two second place finishes). Further down, Jenson drops to 5th with 109 points(plus a win in Canada though only one other top two finish).
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