VETTEL, WEBBER AND INFINITI ON SILVERSTONE PODIUM

INFINITI REPORT ON THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX

Nine down, 10 to go – and Infiniti-sponsored Red Bull Racing has increased its lead in the 2011 Formula One World Championship after Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber took second and third places at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

At the half-way point of the season, Infiniti’s F1 partner leads the Constructors’ title race with 328 points, 110 ahead of McLaren. Vettel – the 2010 World Champion and now Infiniti Global Brand Ambassador – continues to dominate the Drivers’ Championship with 204 points with Webber second on 124.

Webber took pole position ahead of Vettel at the new-look Silverstone circuit. Vettel made the better start and pulled out a lead, but lost position to Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari after a pit stop to change to slicks. Challenging wet/dry track conditions, pit drama, brave overtaking moves and wheel-to-wheel action to the very last corner all marked out the 2011 British Grand Prix.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL

Finish position: 2^nd, Start position: 2^nd

“I had an excellent start and with hindsight I wouldn’t have minded if there had been more rain because I really liked the conditions when we were racing on the intermediate tyres. We seemed to be in very good shape and I was pulling away. We probably waited a little too long to go onto the dry tyres, but it was right because there was no need for us to take a risk and we were in control. At the pit stop we had a problem – the car was already on the floor, but then we had to lift it back up again. By then I had lost the lead and came out in third. I struggled to pass Lewis, I thought I could go much quicker, but I never really had the chance. Once I was very close, but it didn’t work. We got him at the pit stop, but by then Fernando was already gone. It was a good result for us, but we had some problems and, if you’re not at your optimum, then there’s always someone there to beat you. Ferrari was very quick all weekend and they deserved the victory today.”

MARK WEBBER

Finish position: 3^rd, Start position: Pole

“It was a mixed race. It was very slippery at the start with the intermediate tyres, half the track was dry and half was wet and we had to wait for the slicks to come into play. Michael pitted first and we waited to hear what his pace was like. On my in-lap I had a massive moment in Becketts, so Fernando closed on me a bit, I went across the grass, so it was a bit scrappy there – then we had an interesting race after that. I felt strong at the start of each stint, but less so towards the end of the stints –both Seb and I were having trouble with the tyres at the end of the race. I tried to pass him, but not quite, and that was the race.”

CHRISTIAN HORNER

Red Bull Racing Team Principal

“After a very interesting race that initially started very well for us on the intermediate tyres, second and third is still a very strong result at this circuit, considering everything that has gone on this weekend. Unfortunately we had a rear jack failure on Sebastian’s second pit stop, which cost him a lot of time in the pits and dropped him behind Fernando. Having said that, Fernando was very fast today, but at least we would have had the track position going into the latter stint. Having run second early on, Mark had an issue at his second pit stop, but he managed to re-pass Hamilton with a brave move into Turn Six. In the closing laps and with the two cars going wheel to wheel, from a team point of view it made absolute sense to consolidate a big haul of points today and not risk having both cars in the fence, which nearly happened to Lewis and Felipe on the last corner. From a team point of view it’s been a very strong day – we gained 33 points and the drivers are now first and second in the Drivers’ Championship. On the exhaust issue, hopefully we have now achieved clarity on this and can draw a line under it going forward.”

Infiniti, the luxury performance brand from Japan, joined forces with Red Bull Racing for the start of the 2011 F1 season and features prominently on the RB7 cars driven by Vettel and Webber.

NEXT RACE: German Grand Prix, 24 July, 2011.