Rosberg wins as Hamilton's Pirelli tyre blows out

Hamilton had started in Pole position and was leading the race, however a rear left tyre blow out ruined his race. He however managed to finish in fourth position. Hamilton staged an impressive recovery after the early tyre blow out, however, he couldn't overtake Fernando Alonso of Ferrari for the third position. Alonso was particularly happy to cut down the lead of Vettel, as this was the first DNF of Vettel in this season.

Sebastian Vettel who had inherited the lead was forced to retire due to a gearbox failure. Before this failure, a precautionary check of his tyre had revealed cuts. Else, he would have been the fifth driver to suffer a rear left tyre blow out.

Nico Rosberg who had dropped down to third from the second position in which he started, won the race albeit by a narrow margin of 0.7 seconds and Mark Webber finished who normally enjoys this circuit finished second. A couple of laps would have ensured that Webber beat Rosberg. This became the second race win for Rosberg this year, who had his first race win last year.

After Sebastian Vettel's gearbox gave up, a safety car was deployed. Kimi Raikkonen however decided not to pit for fresh tyres as he thought of overtaking Nico Rosberg. However, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber pitted for fresh tyres and could easily overtake Kimi Raikkonen later. Kimi finished in 5th position.

Felipe Massa was another victim of Pirelli tyre blow out. However, he still managed to finish in 6th position. Sergio Perez was not so lucky with his tyres and retired. Jean Eric Vergne too retired due to the tyre issue.

Adrian Sutil of Force India finished 7th, while his teammate Paul di Resta who was penalised for underweight and sent to back of the grid finished in 9th position. Daniel Ricciardo finished 8th for Toro Rosso.

Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber had the 10th position and one point. He might be happy given the current state of affairs at Sauber.

Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas of Williams finished 11th and 12th respectively.

Jenson Button of McLaren finished 13th, two places down from his starting position. Esteban Gutierrez was 14th, Charles Pic of Caterham 15th, Jules Bianchi of Marussia 16th, Max Chilton of Marussia 17th, Giedo van der Garde of Caterham 18th and Romain Grosjean of Lotus 19th.

Pirelli Tyre Drama

When Pirelli came to F1, they were asked to create tyres with higher degradation which will spice up the race. However, no one had expected that Pirelli will go to another extreme and endanger safety of drivers. Pirelli in a statement said that they had used a bonding process to stop delamination of tyres and the blowouts were not due that change in process. They are examining the cause and will rectify it before the German Grand Prix next weekend. In an emergency meeting FIA has asked Pirelli to come out with a solution by wednesday.

Final Standing in British F1 Grand Prix 2013

1. Nico Rosberg           Mercedes
2. Mark Webber           Redbull
3. Fernando Alonso      Ferrari
4. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes
5. Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus
6. Felipe Massa            Ferrari
7. Adrian Sutil              Force India
8. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso
9. Paul di Resta             Force India
10. Nico Hulkenberg     Sauber
11. Pastor Maldonado   Williams
12. Valtteri Bottas         Williams
13. Jenson Button          McLaren
14. Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber
15. Charles Pic              Caterham
16. Jules Bianchi           Marussia
17. Max Chilton            Marussia
18. G. van der Garde     Caterham
19. Romain Grosjean    Lotus

Retirements in British F1 Grand Prix 2013

Sergio Perez                 McLaren
Sebastian Vettel           Redbull
Jean Eric Vergne          Toro Rosso