Webber hails 'incredible' maiden F1 win

The Australian overcame a drive-through penalty he was given after making contact with Rubens Barrichello at the start, then stormed through the field to lead another Red Bull Racing one-two, finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

The win comes after a difficult winter for Webber, who missed most of the off-season testing after breaking his leg in a bicycle accident.

Webber becomes the first Australian to win a Formula 1 race since Alan Jones in 1981.

"It is an incredible day for me," said an emotional Webber. "I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone. I thought I had a good chance there. After pole I knew I was in a good position to win the race this year, I thought the only thing that could beat me or test me even more was the rain, but that held off.

"I lost Rubens off the start, I thought he had gone to the left but he went right and I banged into him. I had a drive-through and my engineer kept me calm.

"It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so I kept my motivation high and I was hurting a lot. The team had patience with me, everyone in Australia and a few people who doubted me too so hello to them as well. So thank you to everyone who helped me here."

Webber, who had scored his maiden pole position on Saturday, lost out to Barrichello at the start and dropped down the order following the penalty.

"I knew my start was not absolutely fantastic," he said. "I moved across a little bit and as soon as I hit him I was surprised. I also clipped Lewis, with these KERS cars and the way the mirrors are set up on these cars everyone is in a similar situation. A difficult run to the first corner but everyone got away okay."

Webber moved to third place in the standings, 22.5 points behind Jenson Button and 1.5 behind Vettel.

The Australian reckons that despite the gap to Button, the championship is now very much open.

"They are both still up for grabs. Brawn are leading the constructors', which they deserve to be, but we are not giving up, pushing as hard as we can to be consistent.

"The biggest problems at the factory is building a trophy cabinet, the hard work is being paid off. We love fighting against teams like Ferrari and McLaren, so to take the fight to the big boys is a big credit for us."