Hungary GP win is a gift, says Mark Webber

Red Bull ace happy to take advantage of opponents' problems and go atop drivers' championship

Red Bull ace happy to take advantage of opponents' problems and go atop drivers' championship

Australian Mark Webber took over as leader of the Formula One world championship on Sunday with a mature and measured victory in an incident-filled and controversial Hungarian Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber celebrates on the podium after winning the Hungarian GP at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest yesterday. Webber won the race ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. pic/AFP

The 33-year-old Red Bull driver took full advantage of other people's problems, including those of his German team-mate Sebastian Vettel, to produce an assured drive that brought him his fourth win of the season and the sixth of his career.

"It was a bit of a gift for me but you know I haven't had many of them," said Webber, who was taking part in his 150th Grand Prix.

"It was an incredible day for the team. One-two was our goal but we were unfortunate not to get that."

Webber finished the 70-lap race 17.821sec ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari with Vettel, hampered by a drive-through penalty for infringing the safety car rules, finishing a frustrated and angry third in the second Red Bull at the Hungaroring.

Vettel's problem
"I didn't understand what was going on and why I was penalised," said Vettel.

"I didn't hear anything on the radio after briefly losing connection. I was warming up my car and was sure we had another lap (under the safety car). It's a disappointing day for me."

Webber's win took him to 161 points in the title race, ahead of 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren (157 pts), forced to retire with gearbox problems.

Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello claimed the 10th place for Williams after surviving a dangerous move by Michael Schumacher. Barrichello believed Schumacher deliberately targetted him because of differences between them in the past.

Barrichello vs Schumi
"He's taking something from the past into the present and there's no need for that. It was the most dangerous manoeuvre against me I've ever known," said Barrichello, who was squeezed to the pit wall by former Ferrari teammate Schumacher. The German was penalised 10 places on the grid for the Aug 29 Belgian GP.