Worthy of an ‘Oscar’,dramatic British Grand Prix marks Nico Rosberg’s second win in 2013

Cruising in his Mercedes,Lewis Hamilton secured his 28th pole,team-mate Nico Rosberg acquired P2. World champion Sebastian Vettel was lined-up to start the race in third spot.

Despite being 3rd and 4th on the starting grid,Red Bull Racing were most favourite. Their record has been tremendous,they won three of the last four British Grand Prix. With a dominating performance in Canada and a lead of 56 points,Red Bull became the team to beat.

The weather was conducive for a dry race,as the sun shone in its full eminence. As the five red lights illuminated,Brit Lewis Hamilton began his pursuit for home glory.

Mark Webber,who had won two of the last three races at Silverstone,started on a bad note,he dropped down from 4th to 15th following a damage to the front wing.

The 8th lap ended Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of winning his home Grand Prix after a puncture. Subsequently,Sebastian Vettel led the pack from here on,leaving Rosberg behind.

Felipe Massa soon followed Hamilton with a tyre failure and so did Jean-Eric Vergne (Pirelli will need to do an extensive post mortem). The safety car came out after that flurry of incidents and helped the marshals clear every bit of debris off the track.

Meanwhile,with a new front wing,Mark Webber recorded the fastest lap on the circuit,bringing him on the 12th spot.

Lewis Hamilton was struggling hard to make into the top 10. Lap 23 recorded the fastest time for Vettel as he extended his advantage over Rosberg. Hamilton overtook Gutierrez with Nico Hulkenberg in his sight. Lap 26 saw Nico Hulkenberg heading into the pits for a fresh pair of mediums after suffering a slow puncture. Meanwhile,Adrian Sutil climbed up to an impressive third in his Force India,with Fernando Alonso on his tail.

Lewis Hamilton kept defying the odds as he drove past Paul Di Resta. Whereas,Kimi Raikonnen left Fernando Alonoso and Mark Webber behind to get to the third spot. The race leader Vettel and Rosberg made pit stops to take on the hards. Surprisingly,all 22 cars were still on the track,despite the Tyre-related incidents earlier.

The ‘Battle of the Brits’ continued as Lewis Hamilton and Paul Di Resta kept fighting for the 12th spot.

Just when the German was leading the race,with Rosberg 2nd and Raikonnen and Webber battling it out for a podium finish,the tragedy struck. The Red Bull bearing number one suddenly lost pace as Vettel trundled towards the side of the circuit,reporting gearbox failure. It is his first retirement of the season. That very moment we had a new leader in Nico Rosberg,with Red Bull’s hopes now solely resting on Mark Webber’s shoulders. Fernando Alonso who had a quiet race otherwise,swept past Jenson Button to secure 6th position. After Vettel’s exit,Webber drove like a champion,meanwhile Fernando Alonso closed in on Raikonnen and overtook him to gain third position on his fresh set of tyres.

Nico Rosberg headed into the final turn with Mark Webber breathing down his neck and then the German took the chequered flag and won his 2nd race of the season. Mark Webber came in 2nd and Fernando Alonso completed the podium.

FINAL STANDINGS

1) Nico Rosberg 2) Mark Webber 3) Fernando Alonso 4) Lewis Hamilton 5) Kimi Raikkonen 6) Felipe Massa 7) Adrian Sutil 8) Daniel Ricciardo 9) Paul Di Resta 10) Nico Hulkenberg

11) Pastor Maldonado 12) Valtteri Bottas 13) Jenson Button 14) Esteban Gutierrez 15) Charles Pic 16) Jules Bianchi 17) Max Chilton 18) Giedo van der Garde

Retired: Romain Grosjean; Sergio Perez; Sebastian Vettel; Jean-Eric Vergne