Mark Webber has admitted he didn't believe that he would catch Fernando Alonso during the final stint of the British GP to claim his second win of the season.
Aussie didn't expect Ferrari to lose so much pace during final stint
A jubilant Mark Webber has admitted he didn't believe that he would catch Fernando Alonso during the final stint of the British GP to claim his second victory of the season.
With Red Bull and Ferrari reversing strategies at Silverstone, and Webber starting the race on the soft compound but finishing on the faster hard tyres whilst Alonso started out on the hards and finished on the softs, it was the Spaniard who led the majority of Sunday's grand prix but the Australian who ultimately triumphed after catching and then overtaking Alonso with just four laps remaining.
Having started the final stint of the race in excess of five seconds adrift of the Ferrari, Webber's victory hopes looked, even at that late stage, unlikely - as Mark himself admitted after the race when speaking to
Sky Sports F1.
"Fernando looked very good in the first two stints and I was surprised at how his options went off," said the Australian. "The Ferrari is generally very good on that type of compound, but it just goes to show you should never give up.
"I thought he was just playing with me a little bit at the start of that last stint, thinking he had the range and that he could go quite slowly after the stop and then pick up the pace if I arrived. But he couldn't react, I smelt blood and got the move done."
Webber's victory - his second of 2012 after also winning in Monaco in May - leaves the Red Bull driver in second place of the Drivers' World Championship with Alonso just thirteen points ahead. No wonder, then, that even in the immediate wake of his ninth career victory, Webber remained determined to retain focus.
"It's been a bizarre start to the season and we'll enjoy this win tonight but come Tuesday, it's Hockenheim," he said.
Which is perhaps just as well given Webber's subsequent confession:
"I get leathered pretty quickly so I'll be behaving myself tonight because I don't have the best sense of humour with a hangover!"
