With Sebastian Vettel stuck behind the KERS-aided Ferrari of Felipe Massa, Webber and his engineers gambled on a long, heavily-fuelled second stint to make up time, and when the Australian emerged after his second stop, he leapfrogged both his team-mate and Massa to take third behind the Brawn GPs of winner Jenson Button and second-placed Rubens Barrichello.

“It was a good day for the team – we would like a few more points, but 11 for Sebastian and me is another good chunk for us,” he said. “These guys [Brawn] are still going away, but we are going away from the rest of the field, so it is a great day for us.”

Webber admitted that the strategy was a tough one to realise, as emerging after his first stop with so much fuel on board compromised his pace initially. “Switching to the mega, mega-long middle stint was a crucial part of the race for us, to be able to get a little bit closer to Rubens and also jump a few guys, so it was a challenge,” he said. “The car felt like it had a caravan on the back to start with, but we got through that and then you’ve just got to keep knocking the laps in, even though it doesn’t feel that quick.

“But I had Lewis and one of the BMWs, who were obviously light finishing their stints, in front. I felt, ‘I can’t even stay with these guys,’ but you know how heavy you are, you’re just trying to do your best and it worked out well for us. The pit stops were clean and all those little things that you obviously need to get results like this, so it worked out well for us.”

The Barcelona podium follows Webber’s second place in China, and he now slots into fourth place in the driver title chase, on 15.5pts. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel is third with 23 points, four behind Barrichello, while Button stretched to a 14-point advantage over Barrichello, the Briton now with 41 points as the teams head for Monaco.