Webber makes a point

Blunt as ever, Australian Mark Webber lobbed a verbal incendiary device at his Red Bull team after winning the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

"Not bad for a number two," he said over the team radio as he took his third win in 10 races this season.

With commentators hailing his victory as 'poetic justice' after he was forced to hand over his car's new front wing to team mate Sebastian Vettel, the 33-year-old veteran allowed himself a wry smile.

"An appointment with karma, is it? yeah," he said.

He was also making a point with some force. Vettel, a decade younger, may be the rising talent but Webber was not about to be cast in the role of anyone's bag carrier while he still had a chance of winning the title.

Angered by what he saw as favouritism towards his team mate on Saturday, Webber left no doubt where he stood on Sunday.

"It was a really unique situation," the Australian, now back up to third in the championship and seven points ahead of Vettel, said. "Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be," he said.

"That's why I was disappointed and was honest with you guys. Let's see how it goes in the future but I just keep doing what I do and hopefully it's enough."

Webber and Vettel had both lined up on the front row at Silverstone but the supposed 'number two' made a storming start while his German team mate struggled to get away cleanly from pole and ended up seventh at the finish.

Asked if he would be having discussions with the team to make sure he was not cast in the position of being number two in future, should the same situation arise, Webber gave a one word reply: "Yep".

"You know I've had a few hurdles in my career, even sometimes privately as well," he added later. "How you judge a person's character is obviously how they come back in a bit of adversity.

"All drivers have some of that in certain parts of their career if they've been around for a while. I've obviously maybe had a bit more than others."

Team boss Christian Horner later played down his driver's outburst, quipping that Webber was 'king of the one-liner' and classifying the 'number two' dig as a 'throwaway comment'. "I don't take that comment with any malice behind it," he added, surrounded by a throng of reporters in the team motorhome.

"If the air needs to be cleared, it will be cleared. But he's been around long enough to know, as a sportsman, that sometimes difficult decisions have to be made.

"Mark hasn't signed a contract as a number two driver ... he knows the lengths the team has gone to, with the weight difference between the two drivers, to try and achieve parity. He knows the lengths the team has gone to to support him.

"We have provided him with a car that has enabled him to run at the front, win a grand prix and challenge for the world championship. I doubt very much that he is going to walk away from that," declared Horner.

"And by the way," added the Briton, as the scrum of reporters gathered up their recorders and headed for the exit. "We did win the British Grand Prix. It wasn't that bad."

Team-by-team analysis (listed in championship order)

MCLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 2, Jenson Button 4): Hamilton started in fourth place but moved up to second on the first lap. He extended his overall lead over Button to 12 points. Button once again failed to finish on his home podium but moved up 10 places from his start position. McLaren stretched their lead to 29 points in the constructors' standings.

RED BULL (Mark Webber 1, Sebastian Vettel 7): Webber's third win of the season and fifth of his career moved him up to third overall. Vettel started on pole for the fifth time this year but a poor start and a puncture on the first lap left him scrabbling for points.

FERRARI (Fernando Alonso 14, Felipe Massa 15): Ferrari failed to score points in a race for the first time this season. Alonso started third but he and Massa collided on the first lap and both had punctures during the 52 laps. Alonso also collected a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner to overtake Renault's Kubica. The only positive note was Alonso setting the fastest lap right at the finish.

MERCEDES (Nico Rosberg 3, Michael Schumacher 9): Rosberg's third podium of the season, from fifth position, signalled Mercedes' return after a poor weekend in Valencia.

Schumacher spent much of the race behind traffic and lost positions when he went off the track after a pitstop.

RENAULT (Vitaly Petrov 13, Robert Kubica retired): Kubica ran in third place in the early laps before falling back. He retired in the pits with a driveshaft failure, his first failure to finish of the season. Petrov had a puncture after the safety car period.

FORCE INDIA (Adrian Sutil 8, Vitantonio Liuzzi 11): Sutil continued Force India's run of points finisheswith his sixth successive top 10 finish. Liuzzi started 20th after a five point penalty on the starting grid for impeding another driver in qualifying.

WILLIAMS (Rubens Barrichello 5, Nico Hulkenberg 10): The former champions had their first double points scoring finish of the season. Barrichello gained two places at the start and another position in the second half of the race for his second successive top five placing.

SAUBER (Kamui Kobayashi 6, Pedro de la Rosa retired): Kobayashi's best result for the team so far. The Japanese has scored all Sauber's points this season. De la Rosa retired after Sutil hit the rear of his car on lap 26, damaging the diffuser and endplate. The debris on the track brought out the safety car.

TORO ROSSO (Sebastien Buemi 12, Jaime Alguersuari retired): Alguersuari retired with a brake problem with seven laps remaining.

LOTUS (Jarno Trulli 16, Heikki Kovalainen 17): Another double car finish for the leading F1 newcomers.

HRT (Karun Chandhok 19, Sakon Yamamoto 20): Yamamoto replaced Brazilian Bruno Senna for the race, his first race since 2007. The team chalked up their fourth double car finish of the year and second in a row.

VIRGIN (Timo Glock 18, Lucas di Grassi retired): Di Grassi retired with an hydraulic problem on lap 10.