• British Grand Prix

'Nearly a really special day' for Webber

Mark Webber sustained front wing damage during a poor opening lap © Getty Images

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• Race:
• British Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Mark Webber said it was "nearly a really special day" as he climbed through the field to finish a close second to Nico Rosberg in the British Grand Prix.

Starting from fourth, Webber had an awful opening lap and dropped out of the top ten after a poor start. However, he managed to recover from front wing damage to carve through the field late on and closed to within 0.7s of Rosberg but ultimately couldn't attempt a pass to snatch the win. Webber said it had been a chaotic race and that he had to be pleased with the result amid numerous tyre failures and his team-mate Sebastian Vettel's retirement.

"I don't think any of us expected it to unfold like this," Webber said. "I had an horrendous start; no idea what happened there so we need to look in to what happened there after such a good run of starts we had up to that. After that, contact with [Romain] Grosjean, the wing was damaged and I thought 'My God, to change the front wing' but the boys did a great job there and then we really got in to the race.

"I was praying for a safety car but actually not in the way they were coming because you know you could be definitely next. It was Russian Roulette, so when you see that many tyre issues for your fellow competitors it's never comforting. So I made the most of both safety cars; the strategy was one of the best we've done I think, it worked very well. I had to manipulate the pace as strongly as I could whenever had to go. Then I thought 'OK, here's Nico!' He was finally the one left, so I'd passed so many cars but I had one more to go. It would have been nice to have had a few more laps but that's the way it was today. We could easily be standing here with two punctures and no points, so a podium and nearly a really special day but still a nice day."

Webber said he would leave Silverstone with fond memories after his last British Grand Prix but was already thinking about the German Grand Prix next weekend.

"I think tonight when I get back, have a red wine, chill out and reflect on what's been quite a challenging weekend; people I think can underestimate and trivialise how hard putting together a whole weekend and finishing towards the sharp end is. You shouldn't take it for granted and we've done that today.

"I'll have a smile tonight. Nico deserved the win, Mercedes have been pushing like hell. They've got a quick car in qualifying and they're not hanging around in the race unfortunately so they're going to be a handful at the Nurburgring as well."

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