Sunday, August 28, 2011

Webber bemoans shocking start

Mark Webber admits his pedestrian start put him on the back foot during the early stages of the Belgian Grand Prix

The Australian produced another battling display at Spa on Sunday to finish second behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

He started third on the grid, but was down in eighth place by the end of lap three and made a pit stop on lap four for a new set of tyres. He fought back and eventually caught up with the front-runners.

The Red Bull veteran says his start wasn't up to standard.

"My start was shocking - I dropped lever and the car stalled, so that was disappointing," he said.

"It put me on the back foot knowing we would stop early to get rid of the set of tyres. The team handled things really well. It was not an easy grand prix for the crew on the pit wall. But it was a good result and I enjoyed the race."

Webber had a couple of close shaves when he was battling Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

"Most of the race was charged with frustration from the start," he said. "We were obviously very, very close through Eau Rouge, I used some KERS, got a tow and thought I might have a chance.

"We didn't give much easy, it was a good battle. It was rewarding that it worked okay, but it takes two guys to get it right. You can do it with Fernando - he is a world class guy and knows when enough is enough."

The 35-year-old added that the result was one of the best for Red Bull following some pre-race concerns. Several teams wanted to use fresh rubbers during the first stint due to blistering problems in qualifying, but the request was denied.

Red Bull were forced to pit both Webber and Vettel very early due to the problems, but still managed to claim a 1-2.

"The team result today was probably one of our best results ever as a team," he said. "It was stressful last night, and a stressful morning, handled very well - putting drivers right in the discussions to understand how we can get through the grand prix as safely as possible, us giving them feedback on how tyres looked."

Source: Planet-F1

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