Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix on 8 July 2012, passing Fernando Alonso late at Silverstone to take what became the final Formula 1 victory of his career. It was not a wild race by Silverstone standards, but it had a clean strategic tension: Alonso on pole, Ferrari trying to make tyre choice work, and Webber waiting close enough to punish the fade.
The weekend had begun in wet conditions, with qualifying interrupted and stretched by rain. Alonso put Ferrari on pole, a reminder that the 2012 season was producing a more varied competitive order than most modern Formula 1 years. Red Bull was still powerful, but not yet in full late-season control. McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, Mercedes and Williams all had reasons to think opportunities might appear.
Alonso’s grip fades
Alonso led much of the race, but Ferrari’s tyre strategy left him exposed in the closing stages. Webber, running for Red Bull, stayed close enough to keep the pressure real. On lap 48 he made the decisive move on the Wellington Straight, using DRS to pass the Ferrari and take the lead. Once ahead, he did not offer Alonso a second invitation.
Webber won by just over three seconds, with Sebastian Vettel third in the second Red Bull. Felipe Massa finished fourth for Ferrari, his strongest result in some time, while Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean brought the Lotuses home fifth and sixth. Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Bruno Senna and Jenson Button completed the points.
The last Webber win
At the time, Webber’s victory looked like another strong Silverstone performance from a driver who enjoyed the circuit and had already won there in 2010. Later, it became a closing marker. He would score podiums again, but he would not win another Grand Prix before leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2013.
The result also tightened the 2012 championship picture. Webber moved within 13 points of Alonso, and Red Bull strengthened its constructors’ position. The title fight would eventually move away from Webber and toward Vettel’s late-season surge, but Silverstone still belonged to the Australian. It was a precise, late, unsentimental win: wait for the tyres to go, make the pass, leave with the trophy.
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