Elated Australian Mark Webber shrugged off a drive-through penalty to win the German Grand Prix on Sunday and end his long wait for Formula One success.
German teammate Sebastian Vettel finished second in a Red Bull one-two to cut Briton Jenson Button’s championship lead to 21 points with eight races remaining. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was third, his first podium of the year.
Brawn GP’s Button has 68 points, Vettel moved up to second on 47 and Webber third on 45,5.
The normally calm Webber allowed all the years of pent-up emotion to pour out as he took the chequered flag, bellowing his jubilation across the team radio as he won for the first time in 130 starts.
”Mark Webber, you are a grand prix winner. Well done, brilliant drive,” replied team boss Christian Horner once the driver had stopped screaming.
Watched by his proud father Alan, the Australian took a deep breath and soaked up the atmosphere as he heard his national anthem sound out for a grand prix winner for the first time since Alan Jones for Williams in Las Vegas in October 1981.
The 32-year-old triumphed despite a drive-through penalty for causing a collision at the start.
”It’s an incredible day for me, I wanted to win so badly,” said Webber, who started from pole position.
The Australian also set a record for the longest gap between his debut and first win. The previous holder was Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who had to wait 124 races before his first victory with Ferrari in 2000.
Barrichello, second on the grid, stole the lead at the start for Brawn but finished sixth to drop to fourth place overall on 44 points.
Nico Rosberg was fourth for Williams in front of his home crowd, his best result of the season.
Spaniard Fernando Alonso took two points for Renault while Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen ended McLaren’s four-race drought with a point in eighth place.
There was heartache for Germany’s Adrian Sutil, chasing Force India’s first point. After starting seventh, he ran as high as second before a collision with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen ended his hopes.
Britain’s world champion Lewis Hamilton’s hopes evaporated when his McLaren picked up a puncture on the first lap. He finished 18th, last of the runners, and lapped. – Reuters