Renault secures a podium finish thanks to Webber

The Renault RS27 V8 engine powered Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber to second position in a thrilling, if dramatic, British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Australian recovered from 14th at the end of the first lap to finish within one second of race winner, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel led for almost two thirds of the race until a transmission issue led to his retirement on lap 41.

Lotus F1 Team’s Kimi Raikkonen finished in fifth, losing out on a podium finish in the closing laps of the race to Alonso and Hamilton who had fresher tyres. The Finn had been in a podium position, but missed out on the pit stop window during the final safety car period. Romain Grosjean retired on the penultimate lap of the race due to front wing damage.

Williams F1 Team, celebrating its 600th Grand Prix this race, had its best finish so far this season. Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas passed the flag in 11th and 12th overall.
Charles Pic (Caterham F1 Team) was 15th, while Giedo van der Garde claimed 18th.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing leads the constructors’ championship with 219 points, while Mercedes has vaulted Ferrari to sit second with 171. Lotus F1 Team is fourth with 124, with Williams F1 Team 9th and Caterham F1 Team 11th. Vettel keeps the lead of the drivers’ championship with 132, over Alonso with 111 and Raikkonen with 98.

Rémi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations

Silverstone is one of the most feared tracks for engine suppliers, with a high power sensitivity and long, sweeping high speed corners that put the internals under enormous pressure. Finding the right map that gives maximum response with enough grip for the slower corners is one of the main challenges for us, but obviously today that was not the main story.

Mark did a great job to come back into second, so close to the win, and give valuable championship points. It’s not been a classic result for us in that Kimi was the only other Renault-powered driver in the top ten, but it was so crazy out there that luck was one of the biggest ingredients to success.

Germany is in just a few days’ time and presents a very different challenge, with high altitude, unpredictable weather and long bursts of power, so we’ll move on from evaluation of this race to preparation for the next extremely swiftly.