Silverstone, June 30 (IANS) Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won a thrilling and action-packed British Grand Prix here Sunday.
The German driver won only 0.7 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber, who came second 7.1 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the 52-lap race, after a series of tyre explosions and punctures disrupted the race bringing out the safety car twice.
Pole position man and local driver Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes had a tyre failure early in the race after a superb start of the grid with Red Bull’s triple World Champion Sebastian Vettel overtaking Rosberg for second. Hamilton eventually finished fourth after fighting back through the field.
In the 42nd lap, championship leader Vettel lost drive and also had to retire giving the lead to Rosberg for the first time in the Grand Prix.
Championship contender Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus finished fifth while Ferrari’s Felipe Massa finished seventh. Massa had a brilliant start, catapulting ahead of the pack from 11th to fifth before he suffered a tyre explosion which pushed him to the back of the grid.
This is Rosberg’s second win of the season after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
