July 12, 2011 12:00am
Mark Webber said his Red Bull racer performed well at the British GP, despite him falling from pole position to third.
Source: Getty Images
YOU get what you deserve in motor racing and Fernando Alonso was the deserved winner of Sunday's British Grand Prix.
He drove very well and Ferrari's race pace was strong, as it has been at the last few races
Third wasn't exactly a bad result for me, but we didn't get the maximum out of the race on my side of the garage.
My start from pole position was okay, but the right side of the grid had more grip and Seb (Vettel) got the jump into turn one.
I then had a big moment at Becketts on my in-lap, which allowed Fernando to gain a bit of time, and the pitstops weren't quite as sharp as at other races.
All of these things added up and you have to get everything right if you want to win on Sunday afternoons.
From a performance point of view, the RB7 performed well through Silverstone's fast sweeps.
Seb and I locked out the front row of the grid and the car performed well on intermediate tyres at the start of the race.
That first stint was demanding because one part of the track was wet and the rest of it dry, so it was a constant battle to look after your tyres.
Michael Schumacher was the first guy to pit for dries and we watched his lap times carefully.
I stayed out for three more laps, which was longer than ideal, but judging the crossover point is part of the game.
The car was good at the beginning of my subsequent stints, before tailing off because I lost the left-front tyre on each occasion.
The last stint was probably my best of the race and I was able to pass Lewis (Hamilton) pretty easily for third place.
That gave the team a double podium and extended our lead in the constructors' championship to 110 points.
Seb and I had a good battle late on. The team put in a few calls asking me to maintain the gap, but I kept pushing because you can never give up in F1.
If Fernando had retired on the last lap, we would have been fighting for the lead. Obviously the team wanted the points for the world championship – and they got them – but so did I.
The team was worried about Seb and me crashing into each other and we proved that we can race without doing that.
I don't want to crash into anyone, be it my teammate or my compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, who, incidentally, finished his first grand prix in the Hispania, which is great for him.
It's now time to look forward to the German Grand Prix in two weeks time.
The Nurburgring is where I won my first grand prix in 2009 and I always enjoy driving at the track.
Like Silverstone, it has a lot of history – particularly the 22km Nordschleife that lies adjacent to the modern racetrack and around which I drove a lot of laps when I raced for Mercedes in sportscars – and the fans there enjoy their motorsport.
There's always a good atmosphere and I'm sure Seb will get a lot of home support.
The race is sure to be another exciting one and it's difficult to predict which teams will be fighting for victory.
Lewis pushed Seb over the line in Spain and Fernando has been very quick at the last couple of races. It'll be close, which is what the fans want to see. I'm looking forward to it!
Credit: Herald Sun (www.heraldsun.com.au)
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