Mark Webber
There were plenty of outstanding drives on an afternoon frought with controversy – and let’s face it, danger – at Silverstone. That’s what makes it particularly hard to pick the Top Dog for Great Britain.
Paul Di Resta could have got the nod after coming from 21st place through to 9th at the finish, includng some tasty dicing with fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton.
And then there was Lewis himself, who suffered the cruellest of blows by having to overcome and exploding rear tyre while in control of early stages of the race. To be within 8-tenths of a podium after that is mighty indeed.
But the real star for us was the man who was racing at Silverstone for the very last time, in an F1 car at least.
Mark Webber didn’t have it all plain sailing either though. A traditionally boggy start that will probably be one of his Formula One trademarks mired him in the pack heading into Turn 1, which was then compounded by clashing with Romain Grosjean, who the Aussie had affectionately labelled a “first-lap nutcase” after doing the same in Suzuka last season.
After that, it was a tale of blood and thunder driving with a pinch of Safety Car luck. Red Bull got Webber in and out slickly when the situation arose and Mark banged in the laps to get track position. After the second Safety Car of the day, he was 5th with 7 laps to go and on fresher tyres. Game on.
He passed the heir-apparent to his Red Bull seat, Daniel Ricciardo, almost immediately for 4th, then added Adrian Sutil and Kimi Raikkonen in consecutive laps to be behind leader Nico Rosberg. Try as he might he couldn’t catch the Mercedes.
Congratulations Mark, you’re our Top Dog for Britain. And thanks for the memories, it’s been emotional.
