Silver arrows at silverstone

Ferrari8217;s Fernando Alonso,who started ninth,made a late charge up the grid and got past Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen with two laps remaining to claim third. Hamilton also recovered to finish fourth.

Soon after celebrating,Rosberg risked seeing his victory slip away when he was referred to the stewards for not slowing down for yellow flags in turns 3 and 5. The stewards ruled that Rosberg did not make a significant reduction in speed but would only receive a reprimand,or warning. After three reprimands during a season,drivers are given a 10-place grid penalty. This was Rosberg8217;s first.

Fantastic,it8217;s very special, said Rosberg,who also won in Monaco and in China last year. Our team has done such a fantastic job. We have such momentum at the moment,progressing all the time.

It seemed like the race was going to be Hamilton8217;s to lose,after he got a great start and appeared to be extending his lead over Vettel. But on the eighth lap,Hamilton8217;s left rear tire exploded and he was forced to pit. Two laps later,Ferrari8217;s Felipe Massa lost his left rear tire and spun out. Five laps later,Toro Rosso8217;s Jean-Eric Vergne also lost his rear tire,with the rubber exploding across the track.

That brought out the safety car until lap 22 when normal racing resumed. It also prompted several drivers after the race to warn of the dangers of the exploding tires and Rosberg said the matter had to be investigated. Tire troubles have been a running theme all season,with several teams led by Red Bull claiming the Pirelli tires wear out too quickly and force drivers to pit more often than in previous seasons.

blowouts Unacceptable

Hamilton was still clearly angry after the race. The safety is the biggest issue,it8217;s unacceptable, Hamilton said. Four blowouts is unacceptable. It8217;s only when someone gets hurt that someone will be doing something about it. I think it8217;s a waste of time talking to the governing body FIA,and if they don8217;t do anything that says a lot about them.

Vergne said: It8217;s just a shame that this sort of problem can waste a whole weekend8217;s work for the team. I am very upset about it and something needs to be done about it soon.

The BBC showed pictures of Turn 4 on the Silverstone circuit,where some of the incidents took place,saying the sidewall of the tire could have been punctured by a sharp part of the kerb. It added this would explain why it was the left rear tire affected.

After the restart,Vettel began extending his lead over Rosberg and appeared set for a fourth win. But on the 42nd lap,Vettel8217;s car came to a stop after his fifth gear broke and Rosberg took the lead. That brought out the safety car for a second time for three laps.

When it went off with seven laps to go,it triggered some of the best racing all day. Alonso was among the most aggressive,passing McLaren8217;s Jenson Button,Force India8217;s Adrian Sutil and eventually Raikkonen for third. Webber also charged pass Raikkonen into second with four laps remaining.

Championship open

The wild finish leaves the championship wide open. Despite his late exit,Vettel remains the leader in the drivers8217; championship with 132 points. His lead,though,is down to 21 points over Alonso on 111 with 11 races remaining. Raikkonen is third with 98 and Hamilton fourth with 89,some 43 points behind Vettel.