Mark Webber may only have finished second in the Belgian Grand Prix, but he produced perhaps the moment of the race as he charged back from a poor start and passed Fernando Alonso going into Eau Rouge.
The two frontrunners met as Alonso exited the pits on lap nine, with both having been forced into early stops by concerns over blisters on their Pirelli tyres. Webber, despite running the harder of the two compounds on offer, enjoyed the benefit of better tyre temperature as he homed in on the back of the Ferrari, and knew that, with Ferrari having shown good early pace on the softer option, he had to make a move sooner rather than later.
Asked whether he had planned the move in advance, the Australian admitted that there had been no preconceived intent - or even time to think about it.
"You don't have much time to get the calculator out at that point, so I think, for most of the race, I was still charged with frustration from the start," he explained, "When I came out behind Fernando, obviously we were very, very close going down into Eau Rouge, and I knew Fernando would have been using some KERS, so I was using some KERS as well.
"I got a tow, obviously, and then I thought, if I can get to the inside, then I might have the line. But, obviously, both of us are very experienced, we both don't give much too easily, so it was a good battle and very, very rewarding that it worked out okay."
Although Alonso would return the favour at Les Combes on the very next lap, Webber eventually got the upper hand as the Ferrari later proved less effective on the harder tyre, fading to fourth at the chequered flag. The lap nine pass remained a talking point post-race, however, although Webber admitted that he may have thought twice had it not been Alonso that he was battling with.
"It takes two guys doing a good job to get all that right obviously," he noted, "so it's more rewarding when you can do it with someone like Fernando, because he's a world-class driver and knows when enough is enough.
"Obviously, my attitude might have been a bit different with someone else, let's say, but, in the end, it worked out for me today but, in Monza, maybe it's his turn to do it to me.
"I was breathing in at the bottom, I got in and I looked in the mirror at the top and I saw he was still in... Well, he had no choice, obviously, in the end. He had to... one of us had to lift and I had a slightly better line, so it was he who had to lift."
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