Motorsport: Webber leads Red Bull to victory

BARCELONA - Mark Webber secured a comfortable wire-to-wire victory at the Spanish Grand Prix overnight (NZT), while Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel filled out the podium after Lewis Hamilton crashed with one lap remaining.

Webber made it 10 straight winners from pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya after the Australian drove a flawless race for a 24-second victory over Alonso.

"It was a crucial pole," said Webber, who celebrated his third career victory by throwing his helmet into the stands. "I controlled the race."

Hamilton was second for most of the race before his tire blew out to send the McLaren driver into the wall shortly before the finish. Vettel took advantage to finish third for Red Bull despite running into the gravel after one of his brake pads blew out.

"Like it or not, I think it was a very lucky day," Vettel said. "Third is not a disaster, it's good points but the result is difficult with how it came together. We were just lucky to bring the car home, to be honest."

Michael Schumacher of Mercedes was fourth after holding off McLaren's Jenson Button for the seven-time champion's best finish since his comeback to the sport this season.

Defending champion Button has 70 points to lead Alonso by three in the standings, while Vettel improved to 60 points and Webber 53.

"I'm happy, very happy to move up two spots," Spanish driver Alonso said. "This little gift was great for me, the team and the fans."

Although Webber eased to victory, a combination of driver error and mechanical faults made for a dramatic race for the two spots behind him.

Hamilton's front left tire blew out at turn 10 as he appeared to be cruising toward a second-place finish after overtaking Vettel during the first round of pit stops. Hamilton, who was set to move to within one point of Button, instead stayed stuck on 49 points after being classified 14th.

"It's not the result we wanted and it's not the result we really deserve," Button said. "It was very frustrating. Not a very god race."

Vettel benefited most from Hamilton's misfortune, after having dropped into fourth when Alonso overtook him as he changed tires after his late setback.

"A lot of things went wrong today," Vettel said. "I was not quick enough. I struggled a lot with the balance of the car today."

Webber jumped into the championship mix after Red Bull finally managed to convert a pole position to a victory. The team started first for the fifth straight race, but struggled with reliability problems in Bahrain and Australia, while Vettel overtook pole sitter Webber to win in Malaysia.

Webber made a perfect start this time while his three chasers weaved behind him looking for space to pass. The Australian driver held firm as Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso and the rest of the chasing pack got around the first corner without incident.

"It was quite tight into turn one and then I just settled into a rhythm and took care of the tires," Webber said. "A sensational effort from the whole team this weekend."

There were problems at the back of the gird, however, as Heikki Kovalainen of Lotus had to retire before the start with a gear box problem, and HRT driver Bruno Senna slid into a tire wall for an early exit. Pedro De la Rosa had to retire from his home race, leaving the Sauber team still without a point this season.

Schumacher's teammate Nico Rosberg was relegated to 17th after a botched pit stop that would ruin his day and see him finish 13th. The German driver has 50 points.

Webber and Hamilton pitted simultaneously, and the McLaren driver was then able to get in front of Vettel - who had a slow tire change earlier - as he returned to the track, holding his ground at the first corner to split up the Red Bull cars.

Schumacher started behind Button but made a nice pass as the two engaged in a battle for fifth, with Felipe Massa eventually sliding into the mix. The Ferrari driver would settle for sixth.

Schumacher showed little interest in battling for a podium spot, however, driving defensively the rest of the way to keep Button behind him. It was the first time Schumacher finished ahead of Rosberg this season.

Adrian Sutil was seventh for Force India ahead of Robert Kubica of Renault, and Rubens Barrichello of Williams and Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari rounded out the top 10.

None of the teams can relax with the calendar's iconic street race in Monaco being raced next Sunday.

"Everyone's pushing to the limit," Webber said. "Unfortunately I can't get too drunk tonight because we have to be at the track on Wednesday."

A moment of silence was observed for Juan Antonio Samaranch before the start of the 66-lap race. The former International Olympic Committee president died at age 89 last month.

- AP