Webber takes maiden Grand Prix win

F1 Grand Prix, GP Germany, Nürburgring

Mark Webber has won his first Grand Prix of his already long Grand Prix after quite simply being the fastest man on track. Even a drive through penalty could not stop his charge for this win. Sebastian Vettel is second, Felipe Massa third.

Just ahead of the start of the German GP, the weather is rather chilly but the track is dry. Earlier in the morning showers and dry periods followed each other rapidly, and still now the skies are fied with clouds.

In the warm-up lap, Alonso surprisingly spun his car just ahead othe last corner. He was able to recover and regain his place.

When the lights went out, Rubens Barrichello shot by Webber who is about 20kg of fuel heavier. Lewis Hamilton also launched quickly and could profit from his KERS, only to miss the first corner and end up with a right rear punctured tyre.

Once on the pace, Webber could follow the leading Brawn fairly easily. Heikki Kovalainen is third after also having profited from his KERS power. Button is up his tail, followed by Massa and Vettel.

On lap 8, it is announced that the starting incident between Webber and Barrichello is under investigation. Just when Barrichello went past, Webber harshly tried to defend his position by bumping wheels with the Brawn GP car. Moments later he is handed a drive through penalty, something rather unnecessary considering there was no harm and he didn't gain anything with it.

Giancarlo Fisichella meanwhile is making up some lost ground and has passed 3 cars to move up to 11th place. By lap 12 he is on Kubica's tail, just ahead of a struggling Alonso.

Button is the first to enter the pits for new tyres in lap 13 after complaining of graining on his tyres. One lap later Barrichello is in iwth Mark Webber completing his drive through penalty at the same time. Barrichello rejoins the track just ahead of Vettel, in the middle of a pack led by Kovalainen. Mark Webber is now in the lead.

In lap 19, Webber makes his pitstop and takes on the harder tyres. He rejoins the track in 7th place, just ahead of Button. Massa is now in the lead and is trying to fend off Barrichello who already made a pitstop. Sebastian Vettel is also just 2 seconds behind before entering the pits in lap 21. Just like his teammate, he takes on the prime tyres.

Interestingly, in lap 25 after both Ferraris have pitted, Rubens Barrichello is leading the German GP, ahead of Adrian Sutil who is only 2.1 seconds behind and still on his first stint.

2 laps later however, Suil enters the pitlane and rejoins the track in between the Ferrari's. It is however a close fight with Raikkonen that destroys Sutil's race. The front wing of his Force India is partly broken, requiring him to stop again.

Mark Webber on the other hand is doing much better, closing up to Barrichello by one second a lap. At the halfway mark he is 2.4 seconds behind the leader, who on his behalf is complaining of lots of graining on his rear tyres.

2 laps later, just when Webber could start preparing an attempt to pass, Barrichello dives into the pitlane to fit hard tyres, just like his teammate did one lap later. A problem with the fuel rig however requires Barrichello to come in another time before the end of the race, contrary to the strategical intentions.

Lap 34 marks the end of the race for Raikkonen. He crawled into the pitlane with a possible braking problem. There was always smoke coming off his right rear tyre at every heavy braking zone in the last 2 laps.

As Alonso passed Glock at the same time, the Spaniard is now in a points scoring position. 4 laps later the spaniard is very close behind Kovalainen but will have a hard time passing the KERS powered McLaren.

Two laps later it's clear he won't have to make a pass as Kovalainen dives into the pits. Before he was stuck behind the Finn, Alonso was close to a second a lap faster.

In lap 43 there are 17 laps to go. Webber makes his final stop and turns up again just ahead of Felipe Massa, the only Ferrari left on track. His Red Bull teammate Vettel is in one lap later for 16 more laps on the option tyre.

Another lap further in the race, Massa is in and rejoins in 7th place, behind Alonso.

Button has meanwhile closed up on Barrichello. Both Brawns are struggling and are swerving on each piece of straight track to get some heat into their tyres.

After the others have stopped, Alonso is moving up the pecking order, now 7th and puts in the fastest lap of the race. Only one lap later he repeats that feat, going even faster. This will surely be a light in the darkness for the Renault team at Enstone.

10 laps from the end Barrichello is in for his final pitstop after which he is 6th. One lap later Button does the same and gains a place on his teammate.

5 laps later, both Brawns are still very close to each other, but Fernando Alonso has joined them. Half a second of difference per lap will probably not be enough to pass either of them if they don't make a mistake.