Webber credits perfect strategy

A jubilant Mark Webber admitted his second triumph of the season was taking some time to grasp.

The Australian, who started from second on the grid, overtook Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with four laps remaining to win the British Grand Prix for a second time.

Webber joined Alonso on two race wins for the season, the only two drivers to do so this year.

"I've had a few (wins), but this one is taking a little bit to sink in," the Red Bull driver said.

"It didn't look like a spectacular race between us initially, but it was one - pacing the stints on the tyres, Fernando starting on the harder tyre...

"After the first stint Fernando had I thought he was in good shape to close the win out.

"But it came our way and I am absolutely over the moon, absolutely rapt."

Red Bull decided to use soft tyres at the beginning, while Ferrari went for hard tyres.

Ferrari's choice of hard tyres meant after final pit stops Alonso finished the race on soft tyres as Webber ended on the hards.

Webber was four seconds behind Alonso but reduced the deficit in eight laps and the 35-year-old refused to blow his only chance of victory.

"I had a single opportunity to pounce and I wasn't going to let that slip," he said.

"Fernando, with the front-left tyre, if you lose balance around this place, the speed is very high in that (second) sector and it's very hard for the driver to do something.

"It was obvious he was pushing as hard as possible but the balance wasn't with him."

Alonso congratulated Webber on his success, despite having his championship lead cut to 13 points.

"The victory was quite close today, but Mark was much quicker in the last laps and he deserves the victory," the two-time world champion said.

"But I am very proud of the progress Ferrari have made in the last few weeks and we are now fighting for victories in the last few races."

Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel spent the early proceedings trailing Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa for their battle for third before eventually prevailing for a spot on the podium.

And the reigning world champion praised his Red Bull team for helping him close the gap on Schumacher and Massa, who finished seventh and fourth respectively.

"The start was not so good, I lost a little bit and then I got stuck behind Michael," said Vettel.

"It was a good strategy to come back - we decided to pit early and then use the momentum and came out ahead, so that was a good call.

"All in all, I would be a bit happier if I would have won but nevertheless I think it is a great result for the team."

Sunday's race was staged in dry conditions, in contrast to qualifying on Saturday and Schumacher believes he could have performed better if the track had been wet.

"We achieved what was possible for us today, and we have to be satisfied with that," the German said.

"We were pretty competitive towards the end of the race, but overall we knew that the characteristics of this circuit wouldn't suit us in normal conditions - we definitely could have done better in the wet.

"Even so, we managed to score a few points, which can be important for the team."

Meanwhile, Sauber driver Sergio Perez was forced to sit out