2013 British Grand Prix

The 2013 British Grand Prix (formally the 2013 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix ) was a Formula One motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone , England, United Kingdom, on 30 June 2013 before 120,000 spectators. It was the eighth round of the 2013 Formula One World Championship and the 64th British Grand Prix to be held as part of the series. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg won the 52-lap race starting from second position. Mark Webber of the Red Bull team finished second and ...

Vettel won the preceding Canadian Grand Prix from Alonso, but did not want to speculate on the outcome at Silverstone or the championship. "Fernando was a little bit unlucky here and there and we were able to beat him, so we were able to come back but this was ten races from where we are now so I think there are so many things that can happen at that stage of the championship." [ 9 ] Alonso said Ferrari could not make more errors and lose extra points. He was confident about his prospects at Sil...

The Grand Prix saw 11 teams (each representing a different constructor ) entering two drivers each for a total of 22 competitors and there were no changes from the season-entry list. [ 21 ] James Rossiter , Force India's simulator driver, was due to drive a VJM06 car in lieu of Adrian Sutil during the first free practice session to gather simulation data until inclement weather cancelled the plan. [ 22 ]

After the session, Hamilton was summoned to the stewards and received his first reprimand of the season for not complying with their instructions to remain to the right of a bollard for safety reasons entering the pit lane. [ 36 ] In the final session, which took place in clear and warmer weather and saw both dry compound tyres used, [ 37 ] Rosberg was again fastest with a 1-minute, 31.487 seconds lap. Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Alonso, Räikkönen, Sutil and Di Resta completed...

Alonso, tenth, switched from the hard to the medium compound tyres with the intention of entering the pit lane if his lap was poor. [ 43 ] Button took 11th after not progressing to the final session by one-tenth of a second because he required a hard out-lap to generate tyre temperature. [ 2 ] 12th-placed Massa was unable to set a fast enough lap after the loss of track time changing his engine after his crash the day before. [ 43 ] Vergne, 13th, ran wide at the exit of Becketts Curve on his fas...

After the session, the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer found Di Resta and his Force India car without fuel to be 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) under the minimum weight limit of 642 kg (1,415 lb) and reported this to the stewards. They decided Force India broke series' regulations and ordered Di Resta to start from 22nd. The Force India team did not appeal the decision. [ 44 ] [ 45 ] Van Der Garde was demoted five grid positions after the stewards concluded he had collided with Hülkenberg at the preceding Cana...

The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold .

Notes:

Sutil progressed from sixth to fourth place, [ 52 ] and Massa moved through traffic to go from eleventh to fifth. [ 53 ] Driving towards Stowe turn, Alonso overtook Button on the inside for ninth. Hamilton led Vettel by eight-tenths of a second by the end of the first lap, with Rosberg third and Sutil fourth. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Hamilton began to pull away from Vettel, [ 53 ] his car was faster all round the track. [ 2 ] Alonso discovered his Ferrari was better in cooler weather because of a favourabl...

After exiting turn five on lap eight, [ 3 ] [ 54 ] Hamilton's rear left tyre punctured and rapidly deflated on the Wellington Straight. [ 2 ] [ 55 ] Tyre rubber flew off the wheel and littered the track as Vettel swerved to avoid hitting it and took over the lead. [ 52 ] [ 56 ] Hamilton drove slowly to the pit lane for a replacement wheel and checks to his car; the wheel's sidewall stayed intact and fibres flailed on it. [ 2 ] [ 53 ] He rejoined the race on the hard compound tyres in 22nd; yello...

Pirelli technicians took the rear tyre rubber to their garage for analysis, advised teams to raise pressures to 24 psi (170 kPa) and told drivers to avoid mounting the kerbs. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Between laps 12 and 13, Alonso overtook the Lotus duo of Räikkönen and Grosjean on the Hangar Straight and Vergne into Brooklands corner to move into sixth. [ 51 ] Grosjean blocked his teammate Räikkönen from passing him at Maggots corner. [ 52 ] Red Bull called Vettel into the pit lane for his first pit stop on...

As track marshals checked and cleared on-track debris with road clearing trucks, [ 53 ] Vettel was told by radio the inside of his left-rear medium compound tyre that he began the race on had sustained cuts to it. [ 51 ] [ 56 ] Teams sought to lessen the amount of time spent on their tyres when the switch to making three stops became common. [ 2 ] The safety car was withdrawn at the end of the 21st lap, [ 52 ] and racing resumed with Vettel leading Rosberg and Sutil. [ 54 ] Pérez overtook Webber...

The second round of pit stops commenced on the 30th lap. Räikkönen, Grosjean and Alonso were the first of the leaders to enter the pit lane for the hard compound tyres. [ 2 ] As he was released, Alonso was forced to brake to avoid hitting Grosjean's car as he entered his pit stall, allowing Räikkönen past him. [ 51 ] [ 53 ] Over laps 31 and 32, Hamilton attempted two unsuccessful passes on Di Resta on the main straight and into Brooklands corner. [ 51 ] [ 52 ] Sutil and Rosberg made their second...

At the podium interviews, conducted by 1996 world champion Damon Hill , [ 59 ] Rosberg called it "a very, very special day" because of the progress the Mercedes team had made over the season. [ 60 ] Webber said his team would have to investigate his slow start to the race and would have preferred more laps to have a chance of winning it. [ 60 ] Alonso said he felt it was a lucky race for his team due to the loss of position after making a pit stop during the second safety car period. [ 60 ] In t...

Rosberg was summoned to the stewards to explain a perceived non-compliance of rules for not slowing enough for waved yellow flags and not overtaking early in the race between turns three and five. [ 61 ] They reviewed telemetry and broadcast footage and imposed a reprimand on Rosberg. [ 62 ] Vettel was disappointed to lose a potential victory with his gearbox failing late in the race, saying: "These things unfortunately happen but fortunately we've got the next race coming up next week so we can...

Button on used, cold tyres said he was "a sitting duck" because he was vulnerable to being overtaken after the safety car was deployed: "I was just waiting for people to pass me. It was tough." [ 66 ] The race result kept Vettel atop the World Drivers' Championship with 132 points. Alonso's third-place finish allowed him to close up to 21 points behind. Räikkönen maintained third position, Hamilton fourth, and Webber fifth. [ 7 ] Red Bull maintained their lead in the World Constructors' Champion...

After several drivers and senior Formula One personnel asked for further action to be taken and had raised their concerns to the media, [ 68 ] [ 69 ] Todt ordered tyre supplier Pirelli to be present at a meeting of the Sporting Working Committee with team principals at the Nürburgring on 3 July to propose new measures to prevent similar incidents from reoccurring in the long-term. [ 70 ] He had already asked Pirelli Motorsport director Paul Hembery , racing manager Mario Isola and Whiting to att...

At its headquarters in Milan , Pirelli conducted its own investigation into the tyre failures observed during the race. [ 75 ] The company concluded the failures were caused by incorrectly mounted rear tyres to attempt to regulate wear, low enough pressures subjecting tyres to additional stress, extreme camber angles on the suspension of cars and aggressive high kerbs. Pirelli emphasised the practice of incorrectly mounted tyres was not forbidden by the company but underestimated by all. It aske...

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold .