Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of the ninth race of the year at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire.
Preparation for today's race has been far from straightforward, with drivers battling the wet conditions while fans have struggled to gain entry because of the weather.
Away from the trouble caused because of the rain, Fernando Alonso supremely took pole position in a delayed qualifying session yesterday. Can the world championship leader extend his advantage with a victory at the famous racetrack?
14.33That's about it from me, I'm off to see if Murray can be a good old boy and win Wimbledon. Thanks for joining Sports Mole, see you again soon!
14.32Click here for our concise report of Webber's victory.
14.31The brilliant Silverstone crowd will be gutted with the poor finish for McLaren boys but they've been treated to a great race all the same.
14.30Schumacher is seventh, with Hamilton eighth, Senna ninth and Button tenth.
14.29Brilliant drive from Grosjean, who was down in 20th at one point, to take sixth.
14.29Alonso and Vettel complete the podium as Massa holds off Raikkonen for fourth.
Chequered flagMARK WEBBER WINS THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX!
Lap 52FINAL LAP
Lap 51Senna passes Hulkenburg at last for ninth place and then the Force India man runs wide allowing Button into a points-scoring position of tenth.
Lap 51If the race finishes as it is then Alonso will still be leading by 13 points from Webber, with Vettel a further 16 back, eight points ahead of Hamilton.
Lap 51TWO LAPS REMAINING
Lap 50Raikkonen does the fastest lap with a 1:34 and is now 1.1s adrift of Massa.
Lap 50Raikkonen, currently fifth, has shut the gap to Massa in front of him to just 1.2s as we have three laps remaining.
Lap 49It looked like it was always going to happen and now Alonso will hope that Vettel can't close his 4.3s gap any closer.
Lap 49The Aussie has the speed on the Wellington straight and should now streak away for victory at Silverstone.
Lap 48Webber leads the Grand Prix!
Lap 48Hamilton's car just hasn't worked today and he's passed by Schumacher for seventh place.
Lap 47Webber's now inside the one-second DRS zone and has five laps to overtake Alonso. These two are the top two in the world championship too, remember.
Lap 46It really is surprising just how well these hard tyres have performed compared to the softer compound.
Lap 45Button goes wheel-to-wheel with Senna but the home favourite can't make it stick and is still 11th.
Lap 45Vettel hasn't been able to keep up with Webber and is six seconds adrift of his teammate in third.
Lap 44Webber now just 1.8s behind Alonso! Surely the Aussie will get past the world championship leader before the end at this rate. Although, passing a man like Alonso, no matter how fast you are is easier said than done!
Lap 44There's a great battle developing between Hulkenburg, Senna and Button, currently ninth, tenth and 11th.
Lap 43Webber's now done to 3.1s and there's still nine laps to go!
Lap 42Just a gentle nudge in the direction of our live commentary for the Wimbledon men's final, which has just got underway. Open it in a new window/tab here.
Lap 41Webber's cut the gap to less than four seconds to Alonso, expect the Red Bull man to close the advantage more and more as we edge towards the end of the race.
Lap 40Latest top ten: 1 Alonso 2 Webber 3 Vettel 4 Massa 5 Raikkonen 6 Grosjean 7 Hamilton 8 Schumacher 9 Hulkenburg 10 Senna
Lap 40Kobayashi's just mowed down half of his pit-lane team as he came in for a stop. He locked up as he ducked to the right and took out four or five of his team. Whoopsy!
Lap 39Some teams have been quicker on the option tyre, while some are performing better on the prime. Who will prevail in the final stages? Alonso or Webber?
Lap 38Here comes Alonso into the pits and it's a good enough 3.6s stop from Ferrari. He comes out back in first place and is around 4.2s ahead of Webber. The Italian team will be pleased but can Alonso make these tyres last for 15 laps.
Lap 37So Webber, Vettel and Massa have now all stopped three times behind Alonso, whose lead is about 20 seconds to the Aussie behind him.
Lap 36How will Alonso react when he has to put on the softer tyres? Hamilton couldn't get used to them but Grosjean is much quicker and passes the Englishman for ninth place!
Lap 34It's a swift stop and Webber comes out in fourth, behind Raikkonen, who has only stopped once.
Lap 34The Red Bull mechanics waddle out of the garage for Webber's stop as he reacts to Vettel coming in.
Lap 33Hamilton admits to his team that Grosjean is much, much quicker on his option tyres.
Lap 33Grosjean now all over the back of Hamilton, the Lotus looks mighty quick!
Lap 32Button has what is hopefully his last stop as a set of the hard tyres go on and he comes out in 14th.
Lap 32Vettel pits from third for his second stop and he feeds back in fifth place.
Lap 32Hamilton passes Button but as does Grosjean.
Lap 31Surely Button will release Hamilton here, he can't hold him up for too long as Grosjean is ready to pounce.
Lap 31Hamilton passes Rosberg for 11th place, next up his teammate Button.
Lap 30Hamilton's come out behind Button and Rosberg and is now being tracked by the quick Frenchman Grosjean.
Lap 30Let's not forget that Alonso is yet to use the softer tyre, something he needs to do before the end of the race.
Lap 29Hamilton's back in the pits already and he gets a set of hard tyres, which are surprisingly being shown to be much quicker in the race situation. Will he be able to get to the end of the Grand Prix on those tyres?
Lap 28The Spaniard's lead to Webber is just under six seconds, with Vettel a further three back in third.
Lap 28So we've just passed half-distance in the race and Alonso is really looking good.
Lap 27Perez says that the Venezuelan is a reckless driver as he runied his race in Monaco as well as Hamilton's last week. He wants to see the Williams man handed a heavy penalty.
Lap 26Perez tells Pinkham that the incident earlier on was fully Maldonado's fault and I have to agree with the Sauber man based on the evidence.
Lap 26Apparently it's raining in nearby Milton Keynes and potentially heading Silverstone's way. Come on the rain!
Lap 25As you can see Hamilton just overtook Schumacher and now he will set his sights on Raikkonen. However, the Finn has just set the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 24Here's the latest top 10: 1 Alonso 2 Webber 3 Vettel 4 Massa 5 Raikkonen 6 Hamilton 7 Schumacher 8 Grosjean 9 Kobayashi 10 Hulkenburg
Lap 22Stats have just shown that the McLaren pitmen are delivering as both Button and Hamilton have had stops of 2.8s. The next fastest stop is 3.3s, so that's half a second being saved at the moment. Nice.
Lap 21Our posts are taking a long time to upload so I'll try and recap the last five laps or so... Hamilton was leading briefly but was overtaken by Alonso on the much fresher tyres. Hamilton's just pitted from second and the McLaren boys delivered a superb 2.8s stop. He's on the softer tyres and is back out in seventh.
Lap 20Sorry guys, brief technical hitch as our submission system went down.
Lap 16So Hamilton now leads the Grand Prix but he's yet to stop remember.
Lap 16Vettel passes Button, who's yet to stop, for sixth place at Stowe corner.
Lap 16Here comes Alonso into the pit...
Lap 15Alonso and Hamilton, the men inside the top ten to start on the hard tyres, now occupy the top two places.
Lap 15Webber pits from second and it's a big sluggish but not disastrous.
Lap 14Massa comes in from third for a set of the hard tyres and comes out behind Vettel!
Lap 14Replays suggest that it's Maldonado's fault as he was given room by the Mexican but lost control and squirmed to the right, bumping the Sauber and sending him spinning on the grass.
Lap 13Maldonado is limping back to the pits as Schumacher comes in for a stop. DRS has been disabled as Perez is parked at the end of the DRS straight.
Lap 12Big collision between Maldonado and Perez results in the latter being forced out of the Grand Prix!
Lap 12Maldonado and Perez enter the pit lane line astern and exit the pit lane in the order they entered.
Lap 12Massa says he is much quicker than Schumi and he gets past him on the hanger straight!
Lap 11The reigning two-time world champion resumes in 15th and he'll be looking to bang in some quick laps.
Lap 11Here come the Red Bull mechanics. They're the first to blink as Vettel comes in for a set of the hard tyres.
Lap 10Hamilton still really under pressure from Perez as Webber is told that Schumacher holding up the rest.
Lap 9There's a steady stream of cars forming behind Schumacher but no one's really making a move as Alonso pulls out a three-second lead.
Lap 8The McLaren team tell Hamilton that his pace is good, despite the fact he thinks he's struggling.
Lap 8Alonso's really impressing in his hard tyres and is now pulling away from Webber as Schumacher starts to hold up the field.
Lap 8Rob Smedley, Massa's engineer, tells the Ferrari man to use Kers at turns seven and 14 and also to open his rear wing at the earliest opportunity.
Lap 7Ooh! Massa dives down the inside but Schumacher shuts the door quite brilliantly. Great driving from both men.
Lap 7Massa's tracking Schumacher very closely and is looking to get into the podium positions.
Lap 6Hamilton reports back on the team radio that he has "no pace" and is "struggling to keep up with the guys" in front of him.
Lap 6Hamilton doesn't seem to be able to get the hard tyres working in the same way as Alonso as he is challenged by Perez behind him.
Lap 5Alonso's lead to Webber is around 0.7s, so the Aussie is within the one-second DRS zone.
Lap 5Just seen a replay of the Alonso-Webber incident and they came so, so close to touching right at the start.
Lap 4That's one of the three Brits out of today's race, let's hope Button and Hamilton can fare a little better.
Lap 4Di Resta's back in the pits and his race is over!
Lap 4Perez has had a brilliant start, moving up six places to ninth!
Lap 3Massa sizes up Schumacher but can't get past the German veteran. His failed move means that Vettel is now all over the back of the Brazilian.
Lap 3Vettel sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1:40.8 as DRS is enabled.
Lap 2Grosjean dives down into the pit and he must have a problem.
Lap 2Di Resta's made it back to the pit and has a new right rear tyre.
Lap 2Maldonado takes Raikkonen for sixth place.
Lap 2Button's moved up three places to 13th.
Lap 1Hamilton's still eighth after the start. The top three of Alonso, Webber and Schumacher is the same while Massa has overtaken Vettel for fourth.
Lap 1Vettel and Raikkonen had contact on turn two.
Lap 1Di Resta's got a puncture and will struggle to get back to the pit.
Lap 1Alonso holds his lead, almost cutting up Webber on the start straight.
Lap 1The cars fill their slots, five red lights illuminate then disappear and we are GO GO GO!
Formation LapAlonso and Hamilton, first and eighth, are the only two in the top ten to start on the hard tyres.
Formation LapAlonso's also on the hard tyre! Strange, strange move from the Spaniard, who could surely get overtaken as that is the slower rubber of the two.
Formation LapAlonso leads the other 22 cars around for a single circuit before we get underway.
12.59The Red Bulls are both on the soft tyre.
12.59Hamilton's got the harder compound on. Surprising move by McLaren who clearly want to stay out longer in the first stint.
12.57Here's Caterham principal and QPR owner Tony Fernandes on Twitter: "Damm. Bad luck. Renault engine failed and blown up. Petrov out. Up to Heikki now. We need laps to understand car."
12.55Time for my prediction and I can't look past pole-sitter Alonso. The Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel to complete the podium.
12.52The Caterham man pulled up on his way to the pit lane and the team has decided to retire the car. Just the 23 drivers to start the race then.
12.51Vitaly Petrov will not compete at the British Grand Prix!
12.50Ten minutes until lights out!
12.50You'd have to feel that if the McLaren duo are to have a chance then they either need remarkable starts or the rain to fall and the result to be thrown up in the air.
12.49Button has been bumped up two places to 16th on the grid because of penalties from the last race for Vergne and Kobayashi.
12.48McLaren will have hoped for a strong qualifying in front of their home fans with two homegrown drivers. However, Button went out in the first part of qualifying and Hamilton is down in eighth.
12.46Here comes the National Anthem and things certainly do feel happy and glorious as the track continues to be bathed in sunlight.
12.4515 minutes until lights out!
12.45As mentioned, I expect the frontrunners to begin on the yellow-marked soft tyre. The other compound available at this race is the silver-marked hard tyre. Drivers looking for less pit stops will start on this tyre.
12.44Vettel thinks it's going to be a "long race" and reveals that rain is forecast at some point but he's not sure how much and when it will come down.
12.43As qualifying was a complete washout and the drivers had to complete laps on wet and intermediate tyres, all 24 drivers have free choice of tyres. All the front runners are likely to start on the faster, 'option' tyres.
12.41Brundle forces his way alongside Webber who tells him that the track is bone dry.
12.39It's currently bright and sunny as Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle does his traditional grid walk.
12.37Here's the top ten on the grid: 1 Alonso 2 Webber 3 Schumacher 4 Vettel 5 Massa 6 Raikkonen 7 Maldonado 8 Hamilton 9 Grosjean 10 Di Resta
12.35The pit lane opened a minute ago and the drivers can make their way out onto their positions on the grid.
12.34The rain that has made such an impact so far this weekend has held off so far in Northamptonshire this morning. I'm not going to lie, I'm hoping for a spit or two to liven the race up!
12.32Right then guys, it's a massive day for British sport with Andy Murray going for Wimbledon glory later this afternoon. First we have the famous British Grand Prix and what a race we could have on our hands.
Written by
Pascal Lemesre
Pascal Lemesre
