Breaking News | 12.07.2009
Australian Mark Webber wins German Grand Prix
Red Bull's Mark Webber has won the German Grand Prix from pole position at the Neurburgring circuit. This is the first Formula One win for the Australian.
Germany's Sebastian Vettel, also racing for Red Bull, finished second and Brazilian Felipe Massa driving for Ferrari was third.
32-year-old Webber, in his 130th F1 race after eight years in the sport, came home 9.3 seconds clear of Vettel as he raced to a victory that threw the fight for the world championship wide open.
Overcome by emotion after crossing the finish line, the Australian said his victory was "incredible." It was the first victory for an Australian since Alan Jones won in Las Vegas in 1981.
"It's an incredible day for me," said Webber. "I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone. I thought I had a good chance there."
"After pole I knew I was in a good position to win the race, I thought the only thing that could beat me or test me even more was the rain, but that held off."
Early problems
Webber overcame a drive-through penalty after a first-lap contact with Brawn's Rubens Barrichello but the Australian's car turned out to be the superior one in the race.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel steers his car at the Nuerburgring racetrack
"I lost Rubens off the start, I thought he had gone to the left, but he went right and I banged into him. I had a drive-through and my engineer kept me calm," he said.
It has been a difficult season for Webber, who fractured his leg in a bicycle accident in January but recovered quickly enough to be ready at the start of the season.
Barrichello took an early lead but faded eventually to sixth. The poor finish promped an angry outburst at his team.
"It was a good show from the team on how to lose a race today," he said. "I'm terribly upset with the way things went. I did all I had to do. I went first on the first corner and then they made me lose the race."
Vettel, 22, and also on the Red Bull team, was slightly more gracious.
"Congratulations to him," he said referring to Webber. "Today he was unbeatable so he totally deserved to win. Another one-two finish for the team - that's so good."
Webber is now third in the title race with 45.5 points behind leader Briton Jenson Button on 68 points and Vettel on 47.
The next race is the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26.
jam/td/AFP/dpa
Editor: αντιγραφικόν.kefalonia kai kosmos.com
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