Mark Webber says British GP team orders were 'unnecessary'

The Australian engulfed his Red Bull team in fresh controversy at Silverstone after ignoring repeated instructions to hold position behind Vettel until the end of the race.

However, despite continuing to fight to the end, Webber could do nothing to get himself past Vettel - as the pair came home second and third behind race winner Fernando Alonso.

Writing on his official website, Webber said that he raced on because he did not want to settle for third - and reckons that it is significant he and the world champion did not crash.

"The team radioed me about four times, asking that I maintain the gap to Seb," explained Webber. "But I wasn't happy with that because you should never give up in Formula 1, so I continued to push. If Fernando had retired on the last lap, we would have been battling for the lead.

"The team was worried about Seb and me crashing because it wanted the points for the constructors' championship. I understand that, but I wanted points for the championship too and we proved that we can race without making contact."

Webber reckoned that Alonso was a worthy winner - with Red Bull Racing not getting things perfect at Silverstone with pitstop errors.

"To win on Sunday afternoons, you have to get everything right and we didn't do that," he added.

"You make your own luck in motor racing and Fernando [Alonso] was the deserved winner of the race," he explained.