Mark Webber took his third Grand Prix victory of the season with a great drive at Silverstone. This was payback time for the Australian following the team’s bias to Sebastian Vettel over the new front wing design.
Lewis Hamilton put up a brave fight in challenging for the lead but ultimately the speed of the RB6 meant he had to settle for second in the McLaren. Despite that he still leads the drivers’ championship with 145 points.
Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg was able to fend off Jenson Button in the late stages of the British Grand Prix to take third. For the reigning world champion, this was a solid performance despite starting in P14.
And what about pole sitter Sebastian Vettel? Well, the Red Bull Racing front wing controversy certainly didn’t help but his chances of winning at Silverstone was ruined by a first lap puncture, caused by a light contact with Lewis Hamilton’s front wing endplate. Despite losing ground over that right-rear puncture, the German was able to recover from lost ground thanks to a safety car to finish in seventh position.
Yet again the controversy over the decision made by the race officials meant Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished in P14. The Spaniard was left frustrated despite making a pass on Robert Kubica at Club corner but the race stewards believed he cut the corner and was given a drive-through penalty for his punishment. If Fernando conceded that race position back to the Renault driver immediately (Robert would later drop out with a differential problem), he wouldn’t have to suffered that penalty and would have recorded a points finish.
As for Felipe Massa, he was unlucky to suffer a puncture after making contact against his own Ferrari team-mate! The wheel-banging incident occurred at Becketts following Alonso’s slow start off the grid. Still finishing in P15 was not the ideal result for the Scuderia.
A safety car period caused by a contact between Adrian Sutil’s Force India and the Sauber of Pedro de la Rosa, left chunks of the latter’s rear wing deposited on various straights. This caution period was a lifeline for Vettel, who had made little progress up to that point, but then started carving through the traffic with a series of spectacular passes, including one on Michael Schumacher.
Passing Adrian Sutil proved a tougher challenge for the Red Bull driver and it took many laps before Sebastian muscled his way pass to take seventh on the penultimate lap.
While at the front, Mark Webber delivered the masterclass with victory at Silverstone. Hamilton managed to tag along until the pit-stops, but thereafter the Australian was unstoppable, setting fastest laps whenever required and leading by six seconds before easing off at the end.
Rosberg returned Mercedes GP to the podium with a solid run to third, despite losing a barge board when sweeping round the outside of the yet-to-stop Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso. The German finished just ahead of Button, who surged through from P14 to fourth thanks to a great opening lap and staying out much longer than most before his single tyre change.
Rubens Barrichello gave Williams another top five finish, with Kamui Kobayashi following the Brazilian to the chequered flag awarding the Sauber team their best result of the year.
So a fantastic result for Mark Webber. Even though the Australian was miffed over that front wing change, this was sweet poetic justice over the team preferring the number one driver Sebastian Vettel. His victory at the British Grand Prix means he now jumps into third in the standings with 128 points, 17 behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton and only five from Jenson Button. In the constructors’ standings, McLaren still leads with 278 over Red Bull Racing’s 249 and Ferrari’s 165.
Race results from Silverstone, 52 laps:
1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1h24:38.200
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +1.360
3. Rosberg Mercedes +21.307
4. Button McLaren-Mercedes +21.986
5. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +31.456
6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +32.171
7. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +36.734
8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +40.932
9. Schumacher Mercedes +41.599
10. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +42.012
11. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +42.459
12. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +47.627
13. Petrov Renault +59.374
14. Alonso Ferrari +1:02.385
15. Massa Ferrari +1:07.489
16. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth +1 lap
19. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
20. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:30.874
Not classified/retirements:
Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 45 laps
De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 30 laps
Kubica Renault 20 laps
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 10 laps
World Championship standings, round 10:
Drivers:
1. Hamilton 145
2. Button 133
3. Webber 128
4. Vettel 121
5. Alonso 98
6. Rosberg 90
7. Kubica 83
8. Massa 67
9. Schumacher 36
10. Sutil 35
11. Barrichello 29
12. Kobayashi 15
13. Liuzzi 12
14. Buemi 7
15. Petrov 6
16. Alguersuari 3
17. Hulkenberg 2
Constructors:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 278
2. Red Bull-Renault 249
3. Ferrari 165
4. Mercedes 126
5. Renault 89
6. Force India-Mercedes 47
7. Williams-Cosworth 31
8. Sauber-Ferrari 15
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10
Next race: German Grand Prix, Hockenheim. July 23-25.
Top three drivers view on the British Grand Prix as taken from Autosport.com.
Mark Webber says he would not have signed a contract extension with Red Bull Racing had he believed he was going to be treated the way he was at Silverstone this weekend.
Red Bull has been surrounded by controversy since yesterday after the team decided to give one of Webber’s front wings to team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
The decision left Webber clearly unhappy amid accusation of favouritism Red Bull has denied.
The Australian, starting from second position behind Vettel in today’s race, went on to take a commanding win, and made it clear he was still angry by telling his team on the radio, “Not bad for a number two driver”.
Webber hopes yesterday’s situation was a one-off and he claimed he would not have signed a new contract with Red Bull if he had believed he would be treated that way.
“Yesterday was really a unique situation, and it was the first time we had one bit. I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way going forward,” said Webber after the race.
“I was disappointed. We will see how it goes in the future, I will keep doing what I am doing and I hope it is enough.”
“I have had a few hurdles in my career, sometimes privately as well, so I think you can judge a person’s character by how they come back from adversity. Some drivers have that, I’ve had a bit more than others.
“It can work but obviously it is not how long is a piece of string – you have to make sure it is not constantly happening because it can test you too much but if the balance is right it can put some fuel on the fire.”
He said the team will sit down and talk things over tomorrow.
“Yesterday I wasn’t happy, clearly, and I am sure we will have some pretty decent chats tomorrow. Today went well for me… and that is it,” he said.
When asked if today’s win was poetic justice, he replied: “An appointment with Karma? Yeah.”
“I don’t think it should happen, honestly. I wasn’t massively in favour of the decision but that is the way it goes sometimes….some of the drivers offered me front wings on the parade lap from their cars but I said stick with what I’ve got. Seb didn’t!”
Lewis Hamilton was thrilled to reward McLaren with second place at the end of a tough Silverstone weekend for the team.
Having had to remove its exhaust-blown diffuser following practice after problems getting the new system to work without impacting on reliability, McLaren worked late into Friday night to change the car’s spec back again.
Hamilton then qualified fourth, jumped to second at the start, and chased winner Mark Webber for the rest of the race to secure the runner-up spot at home.
“I don’t think it is a miracle result, it is a result of all the hard work, a reflection of all the hard work the team put in,” said Hamilton.
“It was nice to drive, not as fast as the guys ahead of us, but we did best job we could with the package we had, and even Jenson [Button] did a great job today. I guess we are still leading constructors’ so it is a great result for the guys.”
But despite his pleasure at being second on a difficult weekend, Hamilton admitted he had no answer to Webber’s speed.
“The Red Bulls, and Mark, did a phenomenal job,” he said. “Those guys are so fast, out of pure pace I wouldn’t be able to out-pace them.
“In the first couple of laps it looked like he was struggling, and I thought I had a chance to get past, but we both struggled. No chance though, I was flat chat but he was edging away.”
Nico Rosberg hailed the superb progress Mercedes made for the British Grand Prix, having finished on the podium at Silverstone just one round after his team’s awful showing in Valencia.
At the Spanish street track neither Mercedes managed to qualify in the top 10 and Rosberg had to rely on penalties ahead to scrape a point. But he was back with the frontrunners all weekend in Britain and took third behind Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton.
“Mark and Lewis were very fast in front, no way to keep up, but we have made such a great step forward from Valencia,” said Rosberg. “It was such a disastrous weekend, we analysed where we went wrong.
“And we’re on the podium, nearly out of merit apart from Sebastian [Vettel’s puncture] I guess – and we can make more because things like the F-duct aren’t working properly on our car.”
He confirmed that his car had received damage when Jaime Alguersuari made contact with him while being overtaken into Brooklands during the pitstop sequence.
“I am sure it did, but it was still good enough to hold Jenson [Button] behind which is great,” said Rosberg.
“Jenson was close, but a bit more easy to keep him behind than [Fernando] Alonso – he is not able to follow as close so having the Ferrari behind would have been a bit more difficult.”
Alonso chased Rosberg in the early stages when both were caught behind Robert Kubica’s Renault, but fell away from the Mercedes when given a drive-through penalty for corner-cutting during a dice with Kubica.
This was another frustrated race for Fernando Alonso and that drive-through penalty caused by cutting a corner after passing Robert Kubica meant the doulbe world champion missed out on the chance to score a decent result for Ferrari. Autosport.com has the details.
Fernando Alonso said he accepted the costly penalty he was given during the British Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Ferrari driver received a drive-through after overtaking Renault’s Robert Kubica by going off the track.
The penalty ruined all his chances of a good result as he was forced to serve it after the safety car period, which meant he returned at the back of the field.
A calm Alonso, who had been angry in the previous race because of the safety car controversy, said that he accepted the penalty.
“I accept everything they do. They are the judges,” Alonso told Spanish television after the race.
Ferrari made a reference to the European Grand Prix controversy in its official Twitter account, suggesting Lewis Hamilton should have been punished then like Alonso was today.
“You can just say one thing: if a penalty must be punishing it must be always like this,” said the Italian team.
The result left Alonso 47 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton, but the Spaniard insisted the title is still within reach.
“This is just the halfway point of the season, so all the points that we have lost in this first half is because we haven’t done things as well as the others,” he said.
“So in the second half of the championship we are going to try to do better than the others and recover one point more than what they have now.
“The season is very long and we are not going to give up.”
Alonso finished the race in 14th position on a dismal day for Ferrari, with team-mate Felipe Massa down in 15th.
Fernando Alonso says he has no regrets about not having let Robert Kubica through during the British Grand Prix, despite the decision costing him a penalty.
Alonso was penalised for overtaking Kubica by going off track, but the Ferrari driver said there was nothing else to do, as his Renault rival had left him no room to take the corner.
Alonso finished the race in 14th position after having to serve the drive-through.
“I think we did what we had to do and I don’t think we had to change anything,” Alonso told Spanish reporters after finishing outside of the points at Silverstone.
“There will be a lot of opinions from people watching on TV while having a beer, saying we should have let Kubica by in a moment when, first, there was nothing to do – if there’d had been a wall instead of grass I would have crashed against it and they would have penalised Kubica most likely.
“So it depends on how you look at it. We thought it was fine. A few laps passed and there were no news and then if we had wanted to let him by, Kubica had retired already so there was nothing to change.”
The Spaniard insisted he did not feel unfavoured by the race stewards, just two weeks after the European Grand Prix controversy.
“The criteria is the same for everybody,” he said. “The stewards look closely at all the incidents of the race and they always make the decision they think is the right one.”
When asked if he felt the penalty was fair, he said: “It’s always fair.”
Despite failing to score, Alonso said he was very encouraged by the pace of his car in race trim, and he is adamant that the title is still very much within reach.
“Forty seven points seem a lot, but we don’t see it that way. Besides, before coming to Silverstone I trusted I could fight for the title, but we had to confirm that the car was working well at this track.
“And now after Silverstone, regardless of the points we have lost, the car was flying in the race, so now I believe I can win the title much more than I believed before.”
Sebastian Vettel was left lamenting his slow start in the British Grand Prix, something he reckons was down to having the wrong settings for the clutch.
“I think we were a little bit out of the window with the clutch,” said Vettel, who lost the lead of the race to Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber at the first corner.
“I had a bad start, lots of wheelspin, so I lost the immediate pull-away. I think we tried probably a bit too hard [with start settings], but that’s life – you try hard to get the optimum.”
Vettel appeared to be hit by the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton at the first corner, and the German suffered a puncture as a result of the contact.
He had to complete the lap slowly and pit, returning to the track at the back of the field.
“Into Turn 1 obviously I had to let Mark past and then I don’t know if – I didn’t feel anything – people said that Lewis touched me. As I said, I didn’t feel anything,” Vettel added.
“Probably he achieved this time what he [Hamilton] didn’t achieve in Valencia. Surely it wasn’t his intention to give me a puncture, if it was like that [contact with Hamilton], but with a puncture early on in the race it’s a big minus.
“I had to come back slowly to the pits. Then I was on the same set of tyres for the rest of the race. Fortunately the safety car came out so I had a bit of entertaining the last couple of laps.”
He added: “From my point of view he had a better start, so obviously I moved to the right trying to defend but he was already there – I knew that because I could see him in the mirror. I knew he didn’t stall.
“Then he was there so there was no point in doing something stupid. The race is longer than just one corner. It’s a shame I couldn’t fight him then, but it’s good for the team. I’m happy for the team.”
Webber went on to win the race while Vettel recovered to seventh position.
The Australian, however, made it clear he was still angry with the team following its decision to give Vettel one of his front wings.
Vettel refused to comment on Webber’s remarks, with the Australian saying on the radio that his performance was “not bad for a number two driver.”
“Well, I obviously focus on myself and sort of see, I guess,” said Vettel. “Especially after what happened in the past. People have different opinions, I have my opinion, I have made my experiences, sometimes good and bad, and you get to know people probably a bit better and see their true faces. I think I learned my lesson, and I focus on myself.”
Source: Autosport.com
The reigning Formula One world champion Jenson Button was quite happy to finish the British Grand Prix in fourth following his qualifying problems. Autosport.com has the story.
Jenson Button was delighted with his fourth-place finish at the British Grand Prix after recovering from a difficult qualifying.
“That was a great race, and I’m so happy to have made up 10 places,” said Button, who had struggled with his McLaren in yesterday’s grid-deciding session, finishing in 14th.
“But it’s hard to overtake around here, so I knew I had to make up a lot of places off the start-line.
“In the event I made up six places, but I then had to push really hard on the Option tyre in the first stint. That strategy worked for us and I came out behind Fernando, who had a drive-through, so I picked up fourth.”
The world champion admitted, however, that he was sorry not to have been able to overtake Nico Rosberg for a place on the podium.
“It’s a pity I couldn’t get onto the podium in front of my home crowd, who have been absolutely amazing all weekend,” he added.
“You can never forget the fans around here – I genuinely think they helped Lewis and me to a good result today. And they got to see and cheer Lewis on the podium too, so it’s not been a bad weekend for them overall, I hope.
“After Friday, to pick up second and fourth today is great. I’m still second in the drivers’ championship, and the only pain is that Lewis has pulled away a bit. But we’ll try and get that back at the next race.”
And the Briton is adamant that McLaren will be more competitive in the next race in Germany once it can get its update package working.
“I reckon we’ll turn up at Hockenheim with a stronger car, and that therefore we won’t be fighting from the start of the weekend. I hope we’ll have a good race there and can really take the fight to the Red Bulls.”
Force India driver Adrian Sutil thought it was a desperate move by Sebastian Vettel on the penultimate lap at the British Grand Prix. The German was not pleased by that and Sutil gives his views to Autosport.com.
Adrian Sutil has accused Sebastian Vettel of forcing him out of the way at the end of the British Grand Prix.
The two Germans had a spectacular battle in the closing laps, as Vettel recovered from his first lap delay, and Sutil tried to hang on to the seventh place he had gained with a bold move on Michael Schumacher.
It took until the penultimate lap for Vettel to get past in the complex, with a move that left Sutil disgruntled.
“It was good racing and I defended my position well against Vettel until the final lap, but then he just seemed to drive into me and I lost the racing line and had to move over,” Sutil said. “Otherwise I don’t think he would have got past me.”
Despite his annoyance at Vettel’s pass, Sutil was still pleased to have taken eighth. He revealed that his original plan for making progress from 11th on the grid had been to run a long first stint on hard tyres, but he abandoned that idea and instead spent most of the distance on softs.
“It was fun and quite an interesting race,” said Sutil. “We started on the hard tyre as we wanted to try a long stint at the start but it was not really possible as the tyres didn’t behave well at the beginning.
“I didn’t have enough grip on the car so we came in to do an early stop and go on the soft tyre, so really the opposite strategy to everyone else.
“It worked well although the last ten laps were tough. But we managed it and there were some really good fights with Schumacher and then Vettel.”
Well congrats to Mr Mark Webber!!!!
A brilliant drive from the start and in doing so take the lead and never gave it up. Not having to do much for the entire race is always how you want to win nearly. Of course in taking the win was by a million miles the best possible outcome for Mark and the issues he has/had with the Red Bull team. Quite what the tension is like in there only God knows, as from the outside it seems pretty horrid. Given what happened on Saturday, the poo well and truly hit the fan. I mean having one new part and having to choose a driver is one thing, but taking OFF one driver to give it to the other is something else. But hey who care’s when you can stick it to your team like Mark did. Loved the radio talk after he crossed the finish line. “Not bad for a 2nd driver” and ” I want someone from MY team on the podium “. Nice. then from Christian ” are going to smile now? ” er, no lol sod ya.
Lewis was on awesome form to, well, keep up at best.
But what a drive by Jenson. OK so he has his off days, and qualies, but when you really need him, can you count on him? Hell yeah! Stunning drive and one which gave the team a finish they didn’t even dare think of. OK so he had to back off a bit at the end, but passing Rosberg would have been a big ask anyways.
There is such a great atmos in that team. Yeah OK you a bit of rivalry of course, and while they are so even, then it’s all good. But then so are Vettel and Webber and look what it’s like over there. Having a No1 and No2 has to happen at some point, but when it’s even stevens and Vettel just appears to be throwing away a win any chance he gets, what appears to be favouring at this stage is not something that looks good, so having it that way doesn’t help either. I know what team I’d rather be racing for.
And it’s not Ferrari either! Holy cow, not a good team atm. Massa just seems to be off the pace and as for Alonso. Well, I dont think the race stewards will be getting a Christmas card off him this year. Not only did a penalty not really penalise a driver two weeks ago, but his penalty completely screwed his race! Then again, it was clear a stewards inquiry would happen, and despite having ex F1 drivers on the team, would you risk an overtake on them? No, and so Alonso or the team at least should have given the place back. We don’t know what went on since his lordship was in the mood to talk and went off in a huff.
I will say this also, Stefano Domenicali’s job is on the line if you ask me. Unless they come back from the dead, I cant see them wanting to keep him on.
The safety car again played it’s part, not at the front, but all the tail enders mixed up with the higher placings now that they not allowed to pass the leaders and join the back of the queue, So this lead to some more overtaking and Heikki in his Lotus was dodging faster cars all over the shop. So any of the lower teams just had to write off a couple of laps and see what position they ended up in. Made for great viewing though.
Bu then Silverstone is always good to watch. We get a few duff races, but the footage from all the fans and the PR stuff is always brilliant year on year. Great stuff though I wouldn’t be eating any food Jake and Eddie “cooked” on their hopeless BBQ they had in the camp site. Of course the great weather helps and really topped off a great weekend.
So it’s off to Germany, so we’ll see how that goes and wether Mclaren sort out their forced exhausted jobby. Though personally I doubt it.
The biggest dissapointment is the track though. Sigh I miss the old Nürburgring running through the forest at 200mph. Brilliant,
Rubens Barrichello praised his Williams team’s progress after its second consecutive top-five finish.
The Brazilian driver had achieved a season-best result after finishing in fourth place at the European Grand Prix, and he continued with his momentum at Silverstone today, winding up fifth.
“It was a good race today,” said Barrichello. “It started well on the opening lap and I managed to claim some positions without too much trouble. Around the stops and the safety car, we gained a position from Alonso and lost one to Jenson, but overall we were in a safe position to come home in fifth.
“It is a great effort from the team to achieve a top five finish two races in a row – not so much in absolute results, but the direction of improvement.
“The team is still not quite where it belongs, but we are quite happy with our performance today. We will continue to think and work positively and continue our forward progress.”
Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg finished 10th to give Williams its first double points finish of the season.
“All in all that was a positive race,” Hulkenberg said. “It’s a shame I lost places at the start though and going down the Hangar Straight Petrov just managed to overtake me round the outside.
“That, combined with not being able to get past Michael at the end, meant tenth for me today. A long first stint on the option tyre was the right strategy call and a good effort by the team.”
Source: Autosport.com
Even though Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix, the team promises to clear the air over that front wing controversy. Autosport.com has the full story.
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has assured Mark Webber that the team will move to clear the air with him over the front wing row that has engulfed the outfit – even though he has no personal regrets about the decisions he took at the British Grand Prix.
Race winner Mark Webber was furious that Red Bull Racing opted to take a new front wing design off his car and hand it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel for qualifying at Silverstone.
Still angry after the race, Webber even cheekily told Horner on the radio on his slowing-down lap: “Not bad for a number two driver!”
The Australian later urged his outfit to get together after the weekend to go through the issues – and claimed he would never have signed a new deal with Red Bull Racing if he knew he would have been treated in such a manner.
Reacting to the controversy, which dominated talk in the paddock post-race, Horner denied that the events of the weekend meant Vettel was being favoured by the team – but he promised that those involved in the matter would get together to sort things out.
“Mark Webber has driven for this team for four seasons,” said Horner. “He knows the depth of passion and the depth of commitment that, as an independent team, this team has put in to get two cars at the front of the grid. Mark knows that better than anybody.
“As a team member, he is an important part of the team and he has delivered his bit – as every other individual has today. Of course we will talk about it. If the air needs to be cleared, it will be cleared. But, he has been around long enough to know that as a sportsman difficult decisions have to be made.”
Although there has been a media and fan backlash against the decision to swap wings on the two Red Bull Racing cars for qualifying, Horner says he has no second thoughts about what happened.
When asked, on the back of the reaction outside the team, whether he regretted the decision, Horner said: “No, because we are a team. We are pushing as hard as we can to produce the fastest cars that we can. Sometimes decisions have to be made.
“We found ourselves in a situation we didn’t want to be in with one wing, that we wanted to run – and whichever side of the garage it was going to go to, one side was going to be unhappy.
“So therefore, I had to apply that logic – and I will stand by that logic. And we will stand by that at the next event, should we find ourselves in the same situation. It was done at very, very short notice. It was done probably 25 minutes before qualifying when we actually found out that the component was runable.
“It was something that Adrian [Newey] was very keen to run for future development, and that was a decision that was made.”
Horner also confirmed that if a repeat situation of having a single component occurred at the next race, then it would favour its leading driver in the championship – who now is Webber.
“The fairest way that I could see was to look at championship position – but if that happens at the next race, where I sincerely hope we won’t be in a situation where we will only have one component whatever it may be, the same rules will apply.”
Horner also played down Webber’s post-race quip on the radio – and reckoned that there was no danger of the Australian leaving the team after the events of the weekend.
“Mark is king of the one liners – as we all know,” he said. “I think the biggest thing today is that he has won the British Grand Prix and I am more than happy with his drive.
“It is a throw-away comment by Mark – who has just won the British GP. I don’t take that comment with any malice behind it. He was upset about the decision yesterday, and I can only imagine that he was disappointed he didn’t get the wing yesterday. But I can’t cut it in half.”
Speaking about his contractual comments, Webber said: “Well, Mark has not signed a contract as a number two driver. He knows the lengths that the team has gone to, with the weight difference between the two drivers, to try and achieve parity.
“He knows how much we have done to support him. I have no doubt that when he has a chance to reflect on this – yes, lessons can be learned. But looking objectively at it – he as a sportsman will recognise that sometimes difficult decisions have to be made.”
He added: “Mark has a contract with us for the future. We’ve provided him with a car that has enabled him to run at the front, win grands prix and challenge for the world championship. I doubt very much that he is going to be walk away from that.”
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says his team is not going to rely on Red Bull Racing getting ripped apart by its internal divisions – even though he thinks the favouritism row that has engulfed his title rivals is now an unwelcome distraction for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Red Bull Racing is facing a crunch few days to try and put a lid on the row that has erupted between Mark Webber and the team management over its decision to swap front wings on its cars before qualifying at the British Grand Prix.
That decision left Webber feeling he had been relegated to the number two driver position – and he claimed after his Silverstone victory that he would have never re-signed for the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated.
And with Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner insisting he has no regrets about the decisions he took at Silverstone – even though it has led to a huge backlash from the media and fans – rival teams have already suggested they can capitalise on the trouble.
Whitmarsh, whose team heads Red Bull Racing in both championships despite having not had the quickest car this year, said he hopes that the problems at Red Bull spiral out of control – but he made it clear he wasn’t going to count on it.
“I don’t know what’s happening there,” said Whitmarsh, after seeing Lewis Hamilton extend his lead in the world championship standings after the British Grand Prix.
“We have got to concentrate on our situation. A lot of people speculated on the relationship between our two drivers. And the fact is that it hasn’t been a news story yet meant people tried to make it one.
“I hope there are cracks and divisions in all our competitors and they all fall apart, but I am not going to rely on it. We have got to make our car quicker and try and win the championships that way.”
When asked if he felt that the internal problems at Red Bull Racing could prove to hurt the team’s efforts on track, Whitmarsh said: “I think if your drivers aren’t working together then it is one more distraction you could do without.”
Whitmarsh reckoned that any decision that could leave one driver feeling as though he is being disadvantaged, such as the removal of parts to give to his team-mate, needed careful thought to consider the consequences.
“You have got to think carefully about decisions,” he said. “Drivers are immensely competitive individuals. They wouldn’t be doing that job otherwise, so if they perceive something that is not even-handed or fair, then you are going to have some trouble.
“There is always a potential tension with two drivers in the same team fighting for a championship. We’ve experienced that a few times, it’s difficult, but I have to say that so far I think we are in reasonable shape in that regard.”
Whitmarsh has close-hand experience of dealing with such driver tensions, when Fernando Alonso had a difficult time working with the outfit in 2007.
Looking back on the events of that season, which included the outfit getting dragged into a spy case, Whitmarsh openly admitted that the off-track situation cost it the world title.
“2007 was a tough year for all sorts of reasons,” he said. “We had a competitive car, we were trying to win the world championship but ultimately we lost it by one point. Certainly the histrionics that went around, cost us that world championship, so we had to understand and respect that.”
He added: “But I know the depth of this racing team. I think the combination of the drivers, a reasonable car and a strong team has enabled us to be leading both championships.”
Source: Autosport.com
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber’s third Grand Prix victory of the season tasted better due to the row. Autosport.com has the full details.
Mark Webber has admitted that his British Grand Prix victory tasted ‘sweeter’ because Red Bull Racing had moved to favour team-mate Sebastian Vettel with a new front wing.
Red Bull Racing controversially opted to take a new front wing design off Webber’s car minutes before qualifying and put it on Vettel’s machine – because his own had broken during the final free practice session.
Although team principal Christian Horner insisted that the differences between the two wing versions were minor, and only affected driving characteristics, sources have revealed that there was both a lap time and a weight difference between the two versions.
The move to change wings left Webber furious and, after his victory at Silverstone, he made it clear to the team that he would not have re-signed for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated.
Writing on his website on Monday, Webber said there was no way of proving that the differences between the wings cost him pole position – but he was aware of how better his win felt because of the perceived favouritism.
“Whether the gap between us in qualifying was the difference between the two front wings, I don’t know,” said Webber. “But it was a far from ideal situation and it definitely made my win taste even sweeter.”
Webber dominated the race at Silverstone, after taking the lead from Vettel with an aggressive dive down the inside at the first corner.
And although his charge later on was hindered by a safety car period, he actually admitted that he was happy the field had bunched up.
“I was actually quite pleased to see the Safety Car because it closed up the field and meant I didn’t have to worry about backmarkers. As the race leader, you always worry that that backmarkers haven’t seen you coming and we saw in Valencia what can happen if a faster car stumbles over a slower one.
“Lewis was right on my gearbox at the re-start on lap 31, but I got a clean run out of the final corner and managed to put some daylight between us. On my first flying lap I set the fastest lap of the race, which sent a clear message to Lewis that it wasn’t going to be his day.”
Even Sebastian Vettel is frustrated by the team’s politics. Autosport.com has the full details.
Sebastian Vettel has expressed his own frustration at the continued politics surrounding his team – in the wake of the favouritism row that overshadowed Red Bull Racing’s British Grand Prix triumph.
Vettel found himself thrust into the centre of a media and fan backlash at Silverstone after Red Bull Racing chiefs put a new front wing on his car for qualifying – having taken it off team-mate Mark Webber’s.
The tensions between Webber and Vettel for that move almost certainly played their part in an aggressive duel between the two men into the first corner – which Vettel lost out in, before a minor brush with Lewis Hamilton punctured his right rear tyre.
That incident meant Vettel could finish no better than seventh and, with the outfit facing fresh internal tensions just a few races after the Turkish GP witnessed a collision between its two drivers, there are suggestions Red Bull Racing is fast becoming its own worst enemy in its fight for title glory.
Vettel is well aware that things have not become ideal with team-mate Webber, and has admitted he is praying for better times ahead where the team does not have to deal with more trouble.
“I try to focus on myself, that is what matters,” Vettel said after the British Grand Prix. “We do have a very great car and, if you race cars with similar pace and guys with a similar speed on the track, then you get to see them once in a while. That is normal. It is racing, it is what it is about and it is what people love.
“The internal [situation]? If you look at the championship now, and if you look at the championship two races ago and if you look at championship two races ahead you probably don’t know what is coming up, we will see.
“Surely we could have done better up until this point, but it didn’t happen. I said on the radio that if someone for the weather forecast could turn the shit off for the future, because for some reason it seems to happen on our side pretty much, then that would be appreciated. It is life, and life goes on.”
Vettel made it clear, however, that he was not unduly worried that there had been races this year where he had been beaten by Webber.
“I don’t want to speak bad or anything about other people,” he said, responding to suggestions that Webber was performing better than some had expected this season.
“Most important is always to keep the respect. I know from myself the races where I finished behind him, or were slower than him, I know the reasons for it. I can fall asleep at night, so don’t worry.”
Christian Horner regrets in not speaking to Mark Webber over this front wing controversy. The row between the Red Bull drivers overshadowed the win by the team at the British Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner wishes he had spoken to Mark Webber before the controversial wing swap took place ahead of qualifying for last weekend’s British Grand Prix.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit has found itself plunged into a fresh favouritism row in the wake of it taking a new front wing off Webber’s car and handing it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel at Silverstone.
Webber was left furious at what happened and, after winning the race on Sunday, he said he would never have re-signed for the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated. He also said on Monday that the victory had tasted ‘sweeter’ because of the situation.
Horner has moved to try and play down talk of a rift in Red Bull Racing’s ranks – pointing out that Webber joined a post-race party with himself and Vettel on Sunday night – but has conceded for the first time that could have handled the matter better for it not to have blown up the way it has.
But he made it clear that he was not simply acting on the wishes of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz and his motorsport advisor Helmut Marko – who have long been suspected of favouring Vettel.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Horner said: “There has never been any pressure from Red Bull to favour one driver over the other.
“I didn’t have a conversation with Helmut or anyone from Red Bull regarding the decision to give Sebastian the wing. It was purely a technical decision, which I discussed with Adrian [Newey].
“My one regret is that I didn’t have time to discuss the issue with Mark personally prior to qualifying as I’m sure that would have given him a more balanced understanding.”
Horner is due to meet Webber later this week to go through the events of Silverstone and discuss how to move forward – with the Australian making it clear on Sunday that he did not want to be treated like a number two again.
And despite newspaper reports of Webber’s mechanics taunting Vettel’s after the race on Sunday – which Webber described as ‘an appointment with Karma’ – Horner insisted there was no rift at garage level.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Our mechanics are completely for each other, irrelevant of the car crew. That’s why we have some of the fastest pit stops in Formula 1.
“There is one team of mechanics for both drivers and all championship bonuses are based on team position rather than driver so there is no favouritism at all.”
Read the original article on The Daily Telegraph website via this link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/redbull/7886259/Mark-Webber-row-rumbles-on-at-Red-Bull-as-Christian-Horner-denies-favouritism-claims.html
Red Bull Racing needs to act quickly to work out where it is going wrong, rather than keep ‘shooting itself in the foot’, if the team is to have a chance of winning the world championship this year.
That is the view of Mercedes GP CEO Nick Fry, who reckons that the favouritism row that erupted at last weekend’s British Grand Prix over a wing swap is perfect evidence of how Red Bull Racing continues to be its own worst enemy.
Despite having had the quickest car this season, reliability problems, a collision between its drivers in Turkey and the row over swapping a front wing at Silverstone has left the door open for rivals McLaren to lead both championships.
And Fry, who has first hand experience of the trials that come from fighting for a title after helping guide Brawn GP to the crown last year, has told AUTOSPORT he thinks the management of Red Bull Racing needs to get a grip of the situation quickly.
“I do sympathise on the one hand with them,” said Fry, who faced similar favouritism tensions last year when Rubens Barrichello hit out at the team over some race strategies.
“But one of the main points is to stop shooting yourself in the foot. Just looking at it from the outside, there seems to be a case of Red Bull causing more problems than they need to.
“They have clearly got the fastest car by quite a margin, and they should be way ahead of the rest of us, and they are not. So they do need to look at themselves and try and work out what they are doing wrong.
“They are beating themselves – which is very satisfying for the rest of us but it should not be what they are up to.”
Fry thinks the time has come for Red Bull to get all it management levels together to go through where it has gone wrong, and make sure it can steer its path to title glory.
“I don’t know what is going on inside the team, but clearly they need a good discussion between drivers and the three levels of team management – because there is the technical side, the team management and the Red Bull side. They have got to work out how to rectify their issues if they are going to beat McLaren.
“McLaren are clearly the big threat. They are immensely well organised, they are a brilliant team and they have won lots of championships – so beating them is a very tall order. Red Bull have to get their act together quick, because they should be much further ahead than they are.”
Fry also believes Red Bull Racing chiefs need to get better control over their drivers – and stop them stirring up the controversies in the first place.
“I think with any management issue, and that is really what it is, you have to nip these things in the bud,” he said. “If it is allowed to fester then it can quickly get out of hand.
“When we have had issues in the past, we’ve had a headmaster’s study discussion very quickly and we’ve made very clear our view on things. And, at the end of the day, we run the team not the drivers. They are an unbelievably important part of the team but they are not the team: and that needs to be very clear. As soon as the lunatics start running the asylum, then you have got big problems.”
Fry also reckoned that behaviour like Webber’s, who said after the race that he would never have re-signed for Red Bull Racing is he knew he would be treated how he was at Silverstone, needed clamping down on.
“I would consider that something that would warrant a severe discussion behind closed doors,” he said. “That is the type of discussion that should be had behind closed doors; it is not a public discussion.
“I think Red Bull have got two brilliant drivers and are both great guys as individuals. They are both very competitive and they have the best car, so they should be able to win.”
Source: Autosport.com
The Ferrari team was about to advice Fernando Alonso to let Robert Kubica through after cutting a corner to pass the Renault. Autosport.com has the full details.
Ferrari was told three times that Fernando Alonso should have let Robert Kubica through during the British Grand Prix, according to the FIA race director Charlie Whiting.
Alonso was given a drive-through at Silverstone after overtaking Renault’s Kubica by going off track.
The penalty, which Ferrari felt was too harsh, ruined Alonso’s chances of a good result, the Spaniard finishing down in 14th position.
Although the penalty was given nine laps after Alonso passed Kubica, Whiting said Ferrari was advised to let Kubica through immediately, but that the team decided against it.
“We told Ferrari three times that in my opinion they should give the position back to Kubica,” Whiting was quoted as saying by Autosprint magazine.
“And we told them that immediately, right after the overtaking manoeuvre. On the radio, I suggested to them that if they exchange position again, there would be no need for the stewards to intervene.
“But they didn’t do that and on the third communication they said that Kubica was by then too far back to let him regain the position.
“It’s not true at all that the stewards took too long to decide. For us the facts were clear immediately: Alonso had gained an advantage by cutting the track.”
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said the team did not ask Alonso to let Kubica through because it did not feel the Spaniard has gained an advantage.
“He tried to be aggressive to overtake, and we complained the drivers not to be aggressive and we complain about the lack of overtaking, and so at that stage, we felt as we normally do at that moment that we need to go on the radio with race control to check what is the position,” Domenicali said.
“And normally, we take the right time to discuss with race control to make the judgement, and the moment when race control give us the instruction to give back the position to Robert, it was clear that Robert had already lost a lot of time – effectively he had a problem and he came back. That is the situation we analysed.
“You can have a situation where immediately there is a possibility to give back the position to a driver if you feel that there is really an advantage that you gain. On our side we felt that was not the case otherwise we would have done it.”
Domenicali said that by the time the stewards told them Alonso should let Kubica by, the Pole was already too far behind.
Kubica retired from the race moments later with mechanical problems.
“As soon as we received the information that in the opinion of the stewards, Fernando should have given back the position to Robert, Robert was already very far behind and Robert was really slowing down because he had a problem.”
World champion Jenson Button has no doubts that his McLaren team is going to benefit from the internal troubles at Red Bull Racing.
On the back of the front wing controversy that overshadowed Mark Webber’s victory at the British Grand Prix, Button is convinced that Red Bull Racing is going to suffer from the distraction of needing to gets its house in order.
Speaking after his fourth placed finish at Silverstone helped him maintain his second spot in the drivers’ championship behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Button said he reckoned divisions in Red Bull’s camp were positive for McLaren.
“Yes,” he said. “It means they’re going to be busy discussing where they’re going to go from here. We’ve got a good relationship here. However much people take the Mickey out of how well Lewis and I get on, it works well with our team and it means the guys back in the factory are not worrying about us and how we are with each other.
“They can focus on making our car quicker. We’re not quick enough. We’re not as quick as the Red Bulls and we need to focus. But we can concentrate 100 per cent on making our car go quicker and not worry about politics on the circuit between the two drivers.”
Button admitted that he had some sympathy for Webber, after the Australian was left fuming that Red Bull Racing took a new front wing off his car and gave it to team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
“I’m proud of the guy,” said Button. “He did a good job. Whether the front wing made a difference or not, it was blown up and it’s difficult for a driver to go into a race knowing that he doesn’t have the same car as his team-mate.
“Even if it didn’t make his team-mate go any quicker, he knows that they chose to put it on his team-mate’s car and not his. Even if the car’s no quicker it still hurts, mentally, so it was a great job from him and he deserved that victory. He did a good job.”
Lewis Hamilton has echoed Button’s feelings of warmth towards Webber – and said he would never wish to be in the situation that his title rival found himself in.
“I can imagine how he feels,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be … if that was me, sjeez… I asked him earlier and he said don’t worry I’m pushing. He’s just doing a job. He’s doing the talking on the track. And that’s what I would do. But it’s not nice.
“When you’re in a team that you love, people around you, all you want to do is be loved back. I don’t know what’s going on in the team, or whether we’re blowing it all out of proportion. We don’t know exactly what’s going on. He did say it wasn’t right. But he still did the job and that’s great for him.”
And Hamilton says that the internal trouble at Red Bull has simply served to make him happier about the positive atmosphere he has found inside McLaren.
“It [the Red Bull situation] is not encouraging, it just makes us more proud as a team to see that we’re doing a solid job – and that the harmony in our team is good.
“The guys that we’re mainly competing with, it seems that we have more harmony in our team and that’s why we’re leading both championships.”
Source: Autosport.com
After the row over team favouritism at Red Bull Racing, Mark Webber has draw the line over the incident. Autosport.com has the full details.
Mark Webber says he and Red Bull Racing have now cleared the air over the British Grand Prix wing row, following sit down talks at the Milton Keynes factory on Wednesday.
The Australian was furious at Silverstone that the team had removed a new wing design from his car and put it on team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s shortly before qualifying.
He claimed after the race that he would never have re-signed a deal with the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to get treated.
However, with the emotions of the weekend having now cooled a little, Webber is much calmer about the situation after finally meeting with team principal Christian Horner to discuss the matter.
In a statement that was issued on his own website on Wednesday night, Webber said all the issues of the weekend had been discussed and that there no lasting tension going forward.
“My disappointment on Saturday after qualifying spilled over into Sunday but it was simply due to the fact that I, along with every other driver on the grid, wanted the best possible chance of success,” wrote Webber.
“Sebastian received the newer front wing for reasons which were not clearly explained to me until Saturday late afternoon. Obviously I can see why a team may at certain points have to favour a driver with more points in the championship, if there are only enough resources to fully support one of us.
“We’ve already debriefed the race weekend at the factory and have cleared the air. It’s now understood that, should we face this unlikely dilemma again, preference will go to the championship points leader.”
Webber also conceded that his ‘not bad for a number two’ comment made on the radio straight after the race was probably not the best thing to have said.
“Of course things get said in the heat of the moment which, with hindsight goggles on, probably shouldn’t have been said. Formula 1 is a highly charged and fiercely competitive arena where emotions and adrenalin do run high from time to time like in many sports and my comment on the radio after the race was an example of Australian sarcasm – either at its best or worst depending on how you choose to take it.
“But rest assured, under the helmet I was massively rapped about winning one of the most prestigious events on the F1 calendar and Red Bull Racing’s local race. It’s a home race of sorts for me; I only live 40 minutes down the road and the UK and Buckinghamshire in particular has been home to me for the past 15 years so Silverstone and the British GP are both very special to me.”
Webber also made it clear that his working relationships with both Horner and Vettel had not been soured by the events of the Silverstone weekend.
“Christian Horner and I have known each other for many years; we’re friends and have a strong mutual respect which continues and extends to other activities, such as our GP3 team and interest in finding and nurturing young racing talent,” he said.
“The team has produced an awesome car and has come a long way in a short space of time. There are more than 500 people at the Red Bull Racing factory at Milton Keynes and I know that each and every one of them share the highs and lows that Sebastian and I experience during the season.
“The support we both enjoy is phenomenal and on Sunday evening many of them joined us at Christian’s annual post-race party and celebrated our win in style.”
He added: “The respect within the team extends to the drivers. I know I have a very good driver as a team-mate and I wouldn’t want it any other way. We share information freely in team meetings and contribute to the development and improvement of our cars.
“Seb and I are not enemies, we’re just two drivers that are pushing hard and want to do the best for ourselves and the team, it’s as simple as that.
“The British Grand Prix was a wonderful result for myself and the team; however time moves fast and looking in the mirror for too long doesn’t prepare us for Germany. We’ve moved on.”
I have to admit this was my fave race of the season. I couldn’t watch the qualifying cos the beeb was just over doing the gushing of silverstone. Sorry but still compared to the other race tracks its better but as a grandstand its not all that. I like the new layout of the track and the main race day was very entertaining.
The end was brilliant with webber having a spat with his boss. Classic.
Thanks for the comment Yas. Glad to hear you enjoyed the race, even though the front wing row became the main focal point during the British Grand Prix weekend. Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has now admitted that he said too much in the public domain. Autosport.com has the details.
Mark Webber has admitted that he went too far in making his views public as the Red Bull front-wing controversy blew up over the British Grand Prix weekend.
The Australian was left fuming after Red Bull removed an upgraded front wing from his car and placed it on his team-mate Sebastian Vettel’s RB6 prior to qualifying. Webber told the press afterwards that he would never have re-signed for the team had he knew this would happen.
Then after winning at Silverstone, he said on the radio: “Not bad for a number two driver”.
The public rift between Webber and the team’s management led to a round of clear-the-air talks between himself, team principal Christian Horner and Vettel. And now Webber, speaking to the Daily Mail, said that at the time, he was angry and disappointed.
“It’s a fair admission that I put too much out to the world,” he told the newspaper. “I would have liked it not to have got out. But it did.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve and I try to be honest to myself and everyone, and I’m being honest with you.
“I don’t want any favouritism; just a fair deal. You need to make sure you don’t have any headwinds. You can’t afford anything that makes it a little bit harder for you,” he added.
“On Saturday I was obviously a bit hot under the collar with what was going on. It was a unique situation because it was the first time we had just one component. It was a tricky decision to make. I was pretty disappointed by it.
“But the upshot is that it will go the other way in the future – it just will, even if that’s hard for people to believe. He was given the wing because he was higher in the championship than me. Now I am higher, so you can follow the logic.”
The Australian added that he fully respected Red Bull as a team and has no qualms moving forward: “There is respect both ways. That’s why I will be staying with Red Bull next season. I am part of a sensational team.
“We’ve got two of us at the front. It’s a sensational problem to have. I could be at the stage of my career when I say, ‘It’s fine, mate, I don’t really care,’ but unfortunately – or fortunately – I can’t do that.”
Webber also said that while there was no bad blood between himself and Vettel over the matter, he accepted that the level of competition between them, as they fight for a title, could lead to further friction in the races to come.
“Who knows, in the next few months, if we’re both still racing at the front, things could become more tense between us,” he said.
“Seb did nothing wrong all weekend. After the race, he shook my hand. The first rule in motorsport is to try to avoid contact with your team-mate. After the race, I spent 20 minutes with Seb’s mechanics.
“The stories that the teams on the two sides of the garage aren’t getting on is total rubbish. You don’t need to have enemies in life. I just want a fair crack.”
Hate to say it but reading that I don’t think the clear the air talks has cleared anything up. Still sounds quite bitter.