Nico Rosberg might have won the Formula One British Grand Prix, but the race at Silverstone will be remembered for the spectacular tyre blowouts which blew out the chances of Rosberg's Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started the race on pole.
Four drivers in all suffered tyre punctures as the manufacturers Pirelli came under the scanner yet again.
The first one to suffer was Hamilton, who was leading the race from Sebastian Vettel and Rosberg before his left-rear tyre blew out causing him to limp to the pits.
Two laps later Felipe Massa of Ferrari suffered the same problem, before Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and McLaren's Sergio Perez also faced tyre punctures.
Safety cars were deployed left, right and center with the final one coming in the 41st lap when Vettel's car stalled due to a gearbox problem.
That brought all the cars together, with Rosberg just about holding onto first, ahead of Mark Webber, in his last British GP, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who had to see off a storming Hamilton desperate to get back amongst the podium places.
"Fantastic day definitely, and it's very special because it's the home grand prix of the team and the factory is ten minutes away," Rosberg told reporters. "A lot of people, a lot of my fellow team members and colleagues are in the grandstands, watching and it's very, very nice that I was able to give them such a great race and such a great result.
"They really deserve it -- you really deserve it because you've worked so well all season. It's great to see the momentum we have in the team at the moment."
Home favorite Hamilton was disappointed not to have been on the top step at the podium, but considering the fact that he had to battle from the rear after the tyre puncture, he was fairly satisfied with the end result.
"I'm disappointed by the race and I would have loved to deliver the win this afternoon for all the British fans here at Silverstone," he said. "The race started so well for us today, I felt comfortable out in front and was managing my pace.
"The tyre problem was such a shame and from then, it was just a case of giving it my all and battling as far up the field as possible. I had some good overtaking moves and, given another lap, I might have got Fernando and ended up on the podium.
"Everything considered, fourth place is pretty good after having been last on lap 10 and we'll take that."
Vettel now sees his lead at the top trimmed to 21 points with Alonso second on 111 points, while Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fifth behind Hamilton, is third in the driver's championship on 98 points, with Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg all close behind.
Results: 1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes); 2. Mark Webber (Red Bull); 3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari); 4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes); 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus); 6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari); 7. Adrian Sutil (Force India); 8. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso); 9. Paul Di Resta (Force India); 10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber).
Driver's standings: 1. Vettel (132); 2. Alonso (111); 3. Raikkonen (98); 4. Hamilton (89); 5. Webber (87); 6. Rosberg (82).
Constructor's standings: 1. Red Bull (219); 2. Mercedes (171); 3. Ferrari (168); 4. Lotus (124); 5. Force India (59); 6. McLaren (37).
