Webber wins dramatic Hungarian GP

Mark Webber capitalised on a penalty for his team mate and a safety car period to win in Hungary

Mark Webber won the Hungarian Grand Prix after a dramatic afternoon of racing at the Hungaroring.

The Australian overcame a disappointing start to take advantage of a safety car and a penalty for team mate Sebastian Vettel to win by 17 seconds from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Vettel was third, with Felipa Massa fourth for Ferrari.

Vettel, from pole position for Red Bull, streaked away from the field at the start, pulling out more than a second a lap on Fernando Alonso, who managed to out-drag Red Bull’s Mark Webber to take second place at the first corner.

But a safety car period, caused by debris on the track, caused the majority of cars to dive into the pits, where carnage ensued. Renault’s Robert Kubica was released too early by his pit crew and crashed into the Force India of Adrian Sutil, while the Mercedes pit crew let Nico Rosberg set off before one of his wheels was tightened. It came off and bounced dangerously down the pit lane, before being caught by a member of the Williams crew.

Despite superior pace, Sebastian Vettel (left) was unable to pass Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. The pair finished second and third

Webber elected to stay out and led the race behind the safety car from Fernando Alonso, Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, who jumped ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa during the pit stops. But moments after the safety car was withdrawn, Hamilton’s gearbox failed, putting the then-championship leader out of the race.

Webber meanwhile, still on his original tyres, focused on pulling out a lead large enough to allow him to take his mandatory pit stop and get back out on track ahead of the pack. He was helped by a drive-through penalty for Vettel for leaving too large a gap to the car in front during the safety car period. The German pitted and gesticulated furiously at the stewards before rejoining in third behind Alonso.

Webber drew out a lead of more than 20 seconds over Alonso before pitting on lap 43. He came back out in front to continue logging fastest laps while team mate Vettel closed up to the back of Alonso but couldn’t make the pass work.

Renault’s Vitaly Petrov scored his best ever finish in fifth, with Nico Hulkenberg taking sixth for Williams. Pedro de la Rosa was seventh and McLaren’s Jenson Button a lacklustre eighth. Kamui Kobayashi rounded off a great weekend for Sauber by finishing ninth.

Despite a strong start, Sebastian Vettel couldn't hold on for victory

Michael Schumacher is under investigation by the stewards for trying to squeeze Rubens Barrichello into the wall as the Brazilian passed the German for 10^th.  The Williams driver was furious with his former Ferrari team mate and called for Schumacher to be disqualified, later describing the incident as the most dangerous he’d ever been involved in.

Webber’s win, Vettel’s third place and Hamilton’s retirement means disaster for McLaren in the overall championship standings. Webber moves to the top of the table on 161 points, four ahead of Hamilton. Vettel rises to third ahead of Button.

In the constructors’ championship, Red Bull overtake McLaren to lead on 312 points versus 304.

Formula 1 now takes a summer break before returning at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium on August 29.

Update: Race stewards have given Schumacher a 10-place grid penalty for the next race in punishment for his move on Barrichello. Additionally, Renault has been fined $50,000 (183,645AED) for releasing Kubica into the path of Sutil, while Mercedes received the same fine following the departure of Rosberg’s wheel.