Vettel ends Button's run

Sebastian Vettel has won the British Grand Prix with championship leader Jenson Button finishing sixth at Silverstone.

Red Bull dominate at Silverstone

Sebastian Vettel has broken Jenson Button's stranglehold on the Formula One world championship with a commanding victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Having won six of the seven races held so far this year, the Brawn GP driver was desperate to continue his run of form on home ground. However, having qualified sixth on the grid, Button ultimately held station during the race. Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber finished second, with Button's team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, claiming the final podium position. Ferrari's Felipe Massa finished fourth ahead of Williams driver Nico Rosberg, while Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the point-scoring positions behind Button. Button still holds a 23-point lead over Barrichello in the drivers' championship, but with Vettel now closing to within two points of the Brazilian following his second victory of the season on Sunday, the 21-year-old's performance raises the possibility of a sustained challenge to Brawn GP from Red Bull during the second half of the season. Vettel was in a class of his own all weekend at the Northamptonshire circuit and took the chequered flag some 15 seconds ahead of Webber. He had been 23 seconds - roughly the equivalent of one pit stop - ahead prior to his first visit to the pitlane, with Webber only briefly enjoying the lead before his own second stop. As Vettel revelled in Red Bull's Renault-powered RB5 chassis, Button in contrast struggled for the first time this season.

Struggling

The Englishman had complained after qualifying that his car's tyres were struggling in the typically mild English summer conditions but had anticipated an improved showing with higher temperatures forecast for the race. The track temperature was indeed higher but it had little impact on Button's performance - his car falling to ninth at the start after falling victim to Trulli's tardy getaway. With Vettel streaking clear of Barrichello and Webber at a rate of more than a second a lap, Button climbed to eighth after Massa ran wide at Stowe on lap two but thereafter could not pass Trulli. Neither could he leap clear of the Toyota after the two pitted in tandem behind Rosberg on lap 18. Indeed, Trulli rejoined ahead of Raikkonen - the Finn dropping back two places after a fast start saw him climb to fifth from ninth on the grid. Up front, Webber took second place from Barrichello after making his first stop on lap 20, while Massa proved the big gainer in the opening stint after climbing to fifth from 11th on the grid. With Vettel's lead such that he could ease up slightly during his middle stint to save his soft compound tyres, Button was in contrast struggling on his harder tyres and complained of understeer in high-speed corners - his car also bottoming out at Copse. Having made his second stop on lap 49, Button finally showed a stronger turn of pace when back on soft tyres during the closing laps. But despite closing rapidly on both Massa and Rosberg, he could not pass them. Elsewhere, Kazuki Nakajima's best-ever qualifying position of fifth soon became ninth on the road after becoming the first of the frontrunners to stop on lap 15, the Williams driver eventually finishing 11th.

Hamilton 16th

Meanwhile, almost 12 months on from taking the chequered flag at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton could only finish 16th for McLaren Mercedes. Starting a career-worst 18th on the grid, the world champion climbed to 14th before falling behind BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica on lap three - Hamilton having taken to the grass on the Hangar Straight in avoidance of Fernando Alonso. The race encapsulated the dreadful season being suffered by all three drivers - Kubica and Alonso respectively finishing 13th and 14th - but they at least gave the spectators value for money. Hamilton and Alonso battled for 16th place on lap 30 as though victory was at stake, the Englishman getting ahead before falling back as the shortcomings of his MP4-24 car were revealed with another lurid slide in the Becketts complex. Hamilton had earlier almost collided with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld at Becketts and later also spun at Vale, with McLaren's misey compounded by the retirement of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn had been passed by Hamilton after making his only stop on lap 33 before promptly being rear-ended by Sebastien Bourdais on the approach to Vale - the Toro Rosso driver also calling it a day soon after. British Grand Prix, result: 1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 22mins 49.328secs, 2 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:23:04.516, 3 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:23:30.483, 4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:23:34.371, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:23:35.243, 6 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:23:35.613, 7 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:23:57.635, 8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:23:58.950, 9 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:23:59.151, 10 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:24:00.850, 11 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:24:03.351, 12 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault at 1 Lap, 13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap, 14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap, 15 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber at 1 Lap, 16 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren at 1 Lap, 17 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India at 1 Lap, 18 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
Not Classified: 19 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 37 Laps completed, 20 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 36 Laps completed Leading World Championship Standings
Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 64pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 41, 3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 39, 4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 35.5, 5 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 21.5, 6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 16, 7 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 15.5, 8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 13, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 11, 10 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 10, 11 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 9, 12 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 6, 13 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 4, 14 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 15 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 2, 16 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 0, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 19 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 0, 20 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0
Manufacturers: 1 Brawn GP 105, 2 Red Bull 74.5, 3 Toyota 34.5, 4 Ferrari 26, 5 Williams 15.5, 6 McLaren 13, 7 Renault 11, 8 BMW Sauber 8, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 5, 10 Force India 0