Great Britain – Race: Nico Rosberg at the end of the suspense

At the start, the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are ahead of the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Disappointment for British fans as they see Paul di Resta, who qualified 5th, start from the last row due to his car’s weight not complying with the minimum weight requirement.

At the lights out, Lewis Hamilton makes a perfect start and maintains his first place while Nico Rosberg has to concede to Sebastian Vettel. On the other hand, a disastrous start for Mark Webber, who even suffers a slight contact with Romain Grosjean at the first corner, without any consequences for both drivers. From 4th on the grid, the Australian finds himself 14th at the end of the first lap! However, a very good start for Felipe Massa, who started eleventh and is now in 5th. Kimi Räikkönen compensates for his modest qualification by moving up to sixth place.

In the eighth lap, shock in the crowd: their best representative Lewis Hamilton suffers the same rear left tire blowout as the one Sergio Pérez experienced during free practice. This time, the incident occurs in the middle of the straight. He therefore loses precious time bringing his car back to the pits and rejoins the race last! His hopes of victory in front of his home crowd have vanished.

The next lap, it is Romain Grosjean who starts the dance in the pits, but Felipe Massa becomes the next victim of an explosion on the left rear, at the exit of a left-hand turn. This makes it the third such incident since the start of the weekend! The Ferrari driver then takes Lewis Hamilton’s place at the back of the pack.

The leader Nico Rosberg at the end of the 12th lap and leaves without trouble. Sebastian Vettel imitates him a lap later. This extra lap and a quick stop allow him to emerge just ahead of Nico Rosberg. He thus takes the lead, but Nico Rosberg’s pit crew indicates to him that he is likely on a three-stop strategy, which might not be the case for the Mercedes driver.

On the fourteenth lap, an unambiguous radio message is sent to Romain Grosjean: « Kimi is faster than you! ». At the moment the Finn overtakes his teammate for the sixth position, Jean-Eric Vergne’s left rear tire explodes in turn, right in front of the two Lotus drivers! Fortunately, this new incident occurs just before the pit entry, allowing the Frenchman not to lose too much time.

The commissioners decide to bring in the safety car in order to clear all the debris from the blown tires. At this moment, the top 10 are Vettel, Rosberg, Sutil, Alonso, Räikkönen, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Pérez, and Webber.

The teams take advantage of the race interruption to inform the drivers that they must be cautious of the curbs once the tires are warm, as they don’t yet know if it’s a tire problem or a curb issue. The race resumes at the end of the 21st lap. Sebastian Vettel has a perfect restart and distances himself from Nico Rosberg, while Mark Webber harasses Sergio Pérez and eventually overtakes him. He is in 8th place. As for Lewis Hamilton, he has already climbed to 14th, right behind the two Saubers.

On the thirtieth lap of the race, it’s Kimi Räikkönen who is the first to initiate the second round of pit stops while his teammate is overtaken by Daniel Ricciardo, then Mark Webber. On the following lap, Fernando Alonso pits in turn but rejoins the track behind the Finn while Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta are engaged in a constant battle just ahead of the two championship rivals. The Mercedes driver is overtaken by both men, then by Mark Webber.

Nico Rosberg stops on lap 35, followed the next lap by Sebastian Vettel while Mark Webber overtakes Fernando Alonso on the inside. Behind, there is a pitched battle between Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa, and Sergio Pérez. When Lewis Hamilton exits the pits at the end of lap 37, his battle with Paul di Resta resumes in earnest and the Mercedes driver eventually prevails.

From lap 40, Romain Grosjean seems to be seriously handicapped by his damaged front wing as he gets overtaken by Jenson Button, then Lewis Hamilton. The latter is back in the top 10. But on the next lap, a new thunderclap echoes in the British blue sky: Sebastian Vettel, comfortably in the lead, has to retire on the pit straight due to a gearbox problem. Nico Rosberg therefore takes the lead. As the safety car re-enters the track, the leader makes another tire change to switch back to hard compounds. Mercedes wants to ensure a secure position while Red Bull chooses to be aggressive with Mark Webber by fitting him with medium tires.

The ranking is therefore: Rosberg, Webber, Räikkönen, Sutil, Ricciardo, Pérez, Button, Alonso, Hamilton, Grosjean.

The last six laps are a sprint, marked by another tire explosion, again for Sergio Pérez. The Mexican retires at his pit. Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso take advantage of their new tires to move up in the standings. The Australian moves up to second place with four laps to go, following a magnificent overtake on Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn loses the podium with three laps to go, after being overtaken by Fernando Alonso. His strategy didn’t pay off as he is overtaken the following lap by Lewis Hamilton, who made an incredible comeback from last place! Felipe Massa did the same, finishing sixth while Mark Webber threatened the leader until the last corner, after setting the fastest lap in the last loop!

Nico Rosberg thus secures his second victory of the year, the third of his career. The relatively cool temperatures at Silverstone allowed him to preserve his tires until the end. However, the good result in the championship comes from Fernando Alonso, who benefits from Sebastian Vettel’s retirement.

The top 10 is therefore Rosberg, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Massa, Sutil, Ricciardo, di Resta, and Hülkenberg.

2013 British Grand Prix Formula 1 Results:

From our special correspondent in Silverstone