Heavy rain and flooding in some areas days ahead of Sunday's race at Silverstone set the tone for the whole race weekend as teams struggled to find the right strategy and tire choice in order to gain a performance edge.
By the end of Qualifying 3, it was the Formula 1 veterans Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, who slotted 1-2-3 on the grid, that had the experience necessary to tame the wet Silverstone circuit. Young title defending Sebastian Vettel failed to properly push his Red Bull Racing RB8 and managed fourth. A welcomed return to pace, Felipe Massa qualified fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Pastor Maldonado, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, and Romain Grosjean. Exhibiting a strange drop in pace, Nico Rosberg qualified 13th while a struggling Jenson Button fell all the way back to 16th.
With torrential rain controlling the days ahead, race teams expected more of the same on race day. However, with clear blue shoes and a radiant sun, the weather over Silverstone decided to mix things up with a full-dry race instead. Whatever information the teams had learned or whatever data they collected during practice and qualifying could no longer be applied.
Interestingly, the conditions have brought forth an equilizer-- as all qualifying times were performed on wet or inter tires, teams were given the choice of any dry compound to start the race with. Looking to get a jump on Alonso on the first lap, Webber fitted the faster soft options for a better edge. On the other hand, Alonso made an interesting call, gambling on the longevity of the harder prime tires for a better control of race pace and pit strategy. Alonso's strategy would only work if Webber doesn't get away from him so everything hinges on Alonso's ability to maintain the lead.
As soon as the lights went out, Webber attacked, sticking his nose on the inside for a look coming out of the exit. Minding the looming Red Bull, Alonso made a dangerous swipe across the track to cover Webber's line. Millimeters from shaving Webber's front wing, Alonso completed his move with pinpoint accuracy and was rewarded with his lead intact.
Farther behind, racing looked far less surgical. Banging wheels and taking corners three-wide, drivers scrambled for position, throwing caution to the wind. Amid the scuffle, Paul di Resta suffered a gnarly puncture and damaged suspension after heavy contact with Romain Grosjean. Hobbling back to the pits, the team diagnosed the damages as terminal, causing di Resta to become the first retiree.
As the grid positions stabilized, Alonso's Ferrari maintained a comfortable gap from Webber in Red Bull. A little farther behind, Ferrari teammate Massa had a defending world champion breathing down his back. In his best form in a very long time, Massa fended against Sebastian Vettel's many attempts. Wisely choosing to conserve the race tires rather than binning both cars, Vettel allowed himself to fall back in order to study what Massa will do about Schumacher up ahead. For some reason, Michael Schumacher's Mercedes was suffering from DRS issues, which held back the grid, letting Alonso and Webber to run away from the pack up ahead. Finally, at lap 11, Massa found his opportunity and shot around Schumacher on the Hanger straight.
Battles continued farther behind. Pastor Maldonado desperately tried to block Sergio Perez from getting by. braking later into turns and taking them wider, Maldonado became the widest car on the grid while Perez' temper began to fume inside the helmet. Determined to challenge Madonado, Perez attacked around the outside of Brooklands on lap 12 only to have Madonado tap him sideways, and spin out of the race. Maldonado came out of the incident still in the race but is looking significantly worse for wear. Limping back to the pits, repairs would send him back out a lap behind the leaders.
Meanwhile, Briton Lewis Hamilton, the Silverstone favorite, had a difficult time managing the McLaren on either tire compound. While on hards, other cars were having a far easier time pushing the pace with their softer tires. One of the very last to head into the pits, Hamilton emerged with the soft options only to find the rubber wear more quickly than he expected. When the tires failed, the McLaren became a sitting duck as mid markers flew past him without sympathy.
On the other hand, Vettel's race seemed to have come back to him, passing Schumacher with the defective Mercedes and even jumping Massa during a round of pit stops, the race has evolved into a Ferrari-Red Bull-Red Bull-Ferrari battle.
The final pit stop rounds started around lap 38 which included a scary icident from Kamui Kobayashi after his car pinned his pit crew when he misjudged his entry. With Alonso's lead nearly 5 seconds ahead after exiting from the pits, Alonso's race was his to lose but unfortunately, Alonso realized that his soft compound option tires didn't agree with the set-up on the Ferrari. Merely ten laps in, the options hit the cliff and Alonso quickly saw Webber filling up the rear view mirrors.
Lining up behind Alonso, Webber deploys his DRS around the outside of the Loop, executing a perfect slingshot around the leader for the win. The train would hold station to the very end of the race. Webber breaks Alonso with a 3 second lead by race finish and Vettel and Massa follow behind in third and fourth.
A great playmaker in the closing stages, Kimi Raikkonen attacked Hamilton, then Schumacher for a 5th place finish. Even more incredibly, Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean found his way back up to sixth after falling to the back of the field when he tangled with di Resta during the race's opening stages. Schumacher, Hamilton, Bruno Senna, and Jenson Button round off the top ten point finishers.
After all the dust had settled, Alonso's 2nd place podium finish gave him a points total of 129. Webber stalks in 116, in dangerous striking distance for the lead. Vettel trails at 100, Hamilton at 92, and Raikkonen at 83.
The next round will be held at the historic Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix on July 22. Stay tuned!
