Webber wins German GP

Webber wins German GP
Mark Webber finally opened his Formula One victory account by winning the German Grand Prix in dramatic fashion at the Nurburgring.

Despite starting from pole, the Australian was beaten into the first turn by Rubens Barrichello and had to chase the Brazilian through the early laps before then being given a drive-thru' penalty for an aggressive defensive move on the Brawn that had resulted in contact on the run to the opening corner.

The Red Bull team kept its driver out until the leader pitted for fuel and tyres, and the move kept Webber in contention despite having to make his own stop several laps later. When everything had shaken out, the Australian was still in second place but was able to cruise up to the back of Barrichello and, when the Brazilian pitted for the second of three scheduled stops, he assumed a lead he would only lose during his own second stop.

Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel was largely anonyous all afternoon, but also took advantage of Brawn's need for three stops to come through and claim second, finishing ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, while Nico Rosberg also got ahead of Button and Barrichello - whose positions were swapped at their final stops - leaving Button fifth and Barrichello fending off a fired-up Fernando Alonso for sixth.

Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock scrapped over the final point, the German having one-stopped after starting from pit-lane, before the Finn finally secured a point for McLaren.

The hopes of both Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil were dashed by contact, the Briton with Webber's front wing at the opening corner and Sutil with Kimi Raikkonen at the same point mid-race. Hamilton finished a lap down, having ahd to pit for repairs, while Sutil came home 15th after needing a new front wing while running in the points.

F1 » German Grand Prix – Race result
1. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 60 laps 1hr 36m 43.310s
2. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +00m 09.2s
3. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +00m 15.9s
4. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota +00m 21.0s
5. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +00m 23.6s
6. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes +00m 24.4s
7. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault +00m 24.8s
8. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +00m 58.6s

9. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota +01m 01.4s
10 Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber +01m 01.9s
11. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes +01m 02.3s
12. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota +01m 02.8s
13. Nelson Piquet Jr Brazil Renault-Renault +01m 08.3s
14. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber +01m 09.5s
15. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +01m 11.9s
16. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01m 20.2s
17. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota +01m 30.9s
18. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap

Rtd Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari 34 laps completed
Rtd Sebastien Bourdais France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 18 laps completed