Vettel wins British GP in 1-2 Red Bull finish

The German beat teammate Mark Webber by 15.1 seconds at the Silverstone circuit to duplicate their finish at China in April.

“I had a fantastic car, it was unbelievable. I was able to push, push more,” Vettel said. “It shows we are going the right way.”

Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello was third, but teammate and championship leader Jenson Button finished a season-low sixth in front of home fans. Having won six races out of eight, Button still leads the standings by 23 points despite failing to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Button has 64 points, followed by Barrichello with 41 and Vettel with 39. There are nine races left.

Arriving at Silverstone with revamped cars, Red Bull was dominant over all three days.

“It was a completely seamless race by both drivers,” Red Bull team Principal Christian Horner said. “It was a dream result for everyone.”

Button had started from sixth but dropped to ninth early on. With 10 laps to go, he reclaimed sixth place to earn three valuable points after leaving the pits ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa finished a season-high fourth, edging Nico Rosberg of Williams.

However, it was a miserable day for reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won at Silverstone last year. The McLaren driver placed 16th after being lapped by Vettel, complaining over the team radio that his tires lacked grip after starting from 19th.

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen retired in the 38th lap after bursting a tire in a collision with Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Bourdais, who was trying to pass him but lost his front wing and also went out of the race.