skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Just three weeks after claiming Sebastian Vettel is beatable, Mark Webber is now struggling to identify his team-mate's "weaknesses"
The Australian was forced to settle for second place behind Vettel after another faultless pole to chequered flag display from the defending World Champion at the Turkish Grand Prix. Sunday's victory helped Vettel to stretch his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 34 points after just four races.
Webber admits it's difficult to stop his team-mate at the moment, but urged the rest of the pack to end his great start to the season.
"He is on top of his game," the 34-year-old said. "He's had a great start to the season and he is near to his maximum. It's not ideal for the rest of us, but it is up to us to bring that to the end sooner rather than later.
"Everyone has weaknesses, and it is up to you to interrogate those as much as you can. Seb has done a good start, and the team has done a great job so that is it."
Webber was left kicking himself after he got off to a poor start at Istanbul Park and slipped behind Nico Rosberg who, according to the Red Bull man, didn't make the cleanest of moves.
"I got the maximum I could actually," Webber said.
"It would have been difficult to beat Seb. It would have been easier if I was ahead of Rosberg. Nico is doing his race, fair enough, but he could have made a cleaner move initially. In the end the result is as it deserves to be, I think." Source: Planet-F1
After three wins in four races, reigning Champ Sebastian Vettel had every right to celebrate on Sunday following his triumphant performance in Turkey
But instead of revelling in his Red Bull team's dramatic one-two finish - Mark Webber claiming his highest finish of the season - ahead of all their rivals, the 23-year-old German said he was keen to make sure everyone kept their feet on the ground and remained calm.
He now leads the title race by 34 points ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who could only manage fourth place on Sunday.
"It's good to get as many points as you can at every single race," said the reigning World Champion. "But we see how quickly it can change.
"We saw it last year with this guy (Fernando Alonso) coming and going, so we have to really go step by step, see every race as its own and try and maximise our points.
"A good start to the season always helps, but there is a long way to go. Four out of 19. So, you can work out how many more points there are to get so we have to keep focused."
Vettel thanked his team for their hard work in repairing his car, dubbed 'Kinky Kylie' after he had almost destroyed it in a major accident during Friday's rain-hit first practice session.
"All in all I am very happy," he said.
"On Friday, I had an accident and crashed the car badly. All the guys, even Mark's guys helped and fixed the car. It meant some extra hours which I am sorry for, but yesterday and today made up for it.
"I am pleased with the results and a big 'thanks' to the team."
He admitted he was open about his strategy and said the Red Bull team had learned from their mistakes in China where they were beaten by Hamilton.
He said: "It wasn't easy from the start to know what is going to happen.
"You have an idea about the tyres and how long they will last, but you have to wait for the first and second stints to see the trend. I could have stayed out on primes (soft), but if the safety car comes out you are on used tyres.
"So I had a another short stint. I was very much in control, I am very happy with how we communicated with the race and how we reacted.
"I am very pleased and since China we have definitely made a step forward. We have learned our lesson and have to make sure we keep momentum into the next race."
Source: Planet-F1
Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso give their thoughts on an enthralling Turkish Grand PrixSource: FiftyBuckss
Sebastian Vettel demonstrated his maturity and Red Bull their pace as the German put in a faultless drive to take his third win of the season
Starting from pole position, the defending World Champion stormed into the lead, completely untroubled by those behind him.
From there it was but a walk in the park for the Red Bull driver, who only reliquished the lead when he stopped for fresh tyres.
Cruising across the line, having opted for a four-stop strategy, which included a late stop to ensure that no one on fresher tyres could take the victory away from him ala China style, Vettel bagged another 25 points towards his title defense.
Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso were involved in a thrilling battling seven laps from the end of the grand prix. It started earlier in the race when Alonso past Nico Rosberg in the opening few laps and then later took Webber with the use of his adjustable rear wing.
The Aussie had no answer for the Ferrari driver as he stormed by and had to settle in behind him. Both drivers opted for four-stop strategies to give them the edge in the closing stages but it seemed to give Webber more of the edge and paid Alonso back, overtaking the Spaniard to finish second in a Red Bull 1-2.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton lost his chance of fighting for a podium finish when his third stop took precious extra seconds+ due to a problem with his front right wheel nut.
He dropped down the order but fought back to fourth place before coming in for his fourth stop, which put him behind team-mate Jenson Button, who was on a three-stopper to Hamilton's four. With Hamilton on fresh rubber, Button had no answer to his team-mate, who took the position off him without a breaking a sweat.
Nico Rosberg, another four-stopper, was the next to take Button, a welcome feeling for the Mercedes GP driver, who seemed to spend much of the race dropping down the order. He had been P2 after the opening lap.
Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov, Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi completed the points.
Results
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:30:17.558
02. Mark Webber Red Bull +8.807
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +10.075
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren + 40.232
05. Nico Rosberg Mercedes + 47.539
06. Jenson Button McLaren + 59.431
07. Nick Heidfeld Renault + 1:00.857
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault + 1:08.168
09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso + 1:09.300
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber + 1:18.000
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari + 1:19.800
12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes + 1:25.400
13. Adrian Sutil Force India + 1 lap
14. Sergio Perez Sauber + 1 lap
15. Rubens Barrichello Williams + 1 lap
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso +1 lap
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams + 1 lap
18. Jarno Trulli Lotus + 1 lap
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus + 2 laps
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin + 2 laps
21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT + 3 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT + 5 laps Source: Planet-F1
Felipe Massa said he made a 'significant mistake' during the final session of qualifying, which means he will line up a disappointing tenth on the grid for the Turkish Grand Prix.
Having looked to have had the edge over his team-mate Fernando Alonso for much of the weekend so far, Massa endured a poor qualifying session. Having used up one set of soft tyres to get through Q1, he then ran wide at turn 9 in the final session and aborted his one and only run. Massa said the decision was made to preserve the tyres for the opening stint of the race.
"It was not a good qualifying for me: I did not manage to get a clean lap in Q3 after I made a significant mistake at Turn 9, when I ended up going off line: we therefore decided it was better to pit and save that set of tyres for the start. In Q1, with the hards, I did not get a great lap and so as not to take any risks, we decided to also use the softs, so I only had one new set available for the final part of qualifying.
Now we will see what we can do in the race tomorrow: usually our pace is better than in qualifying, but it will not be easy to do well, given that I'm starting from tenth. We will see what the tyre degradation will be like, maybe it will be a bit higher than what we saw in China. A shame, as I could have been on the third row, along with my team-mate."
Massa also said that his preparation for qualifying was disrupted by an engine change after the final practice session, but played down any fears it could affect his competitiveness in the race.
"This morning, in FP3, the engineers saw an engine parameter that they were not sure about and so it was decided to change it at the end of the session. So I went back to the engine I had already used in Malaysia and China, which according to the schedule is still meant to do three races."
Source: ESPNF1
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso says he is happy to qualify fifth for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix and believes they are closing the gap on their rivalsSource: FiftyBuckss
Mark Webber: We spoke before qualifying and decided that, as tomorrow is going to be a long race, every lap you could save today might help tomorrow. It turns out that we're in the best possible grid positions and the team did a good job, as we have saved a set of tyres too, so it's looking good
Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber is feeling confident ahead of tomorrow's F1 2011 Turkish Grand Prix.
Webber will start the fourth round of the season from second on the grid and while the Aussie was disappointed to again lose out to his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, having been four tenths slower, he reckons the team's decision to only opt for one-run in Q3 will pay dividends in the race.
“I would have liked to have got a couple more tenths to have the margin. But obviously Sebastian did a very good lap for pole, but my lap wasn't too bad either,” Webber reflected.
“We spoke before qualifying and decided that, as tomorrow is going to be a long race, every lap you could save today might help tomorrow. It turns out that we're in the best possible grid positions and the team did a good job, as we have saved a set of tyres too, so it's looking good.
“There were some good decisions from the team. I'm happy with today and am looking forward to tomorrow's race.”
Red Bull Racing team boss, Christian Horner meanwhile was delighted to see his two men lock-out the front row, the first time the squad has managed that this year.
He also added that while it was a bit of a risk not to do two-runs in the shoot-out, the gamble did pay off.
“A great team performance,” he continued. “We elected not to do a second run with both drivers; we knew it would be a little tight, but strategically we believe it was the right thing to do, as both drivers now have a new set of tyres available for tomorrow's race.”
Source: Crash.net
Nico Rosberg: I'm very happy with our performance in qualifying. After a difficult start to the season, we are getting closer to the front and I'm pleased that we are making a small step forward each weekend
Nico Rosberg was 'very happy' after qualifying third today for the F1 2011 Turkish Grand Prix.
Rosberg, who finished Friday practice in second and who was fourth in FP3 this morning, maintained that form this afternoon and on his second run in the top-ten shoot-out he just edged out McLaren's Lewis Hamilton to finish the day 'best of the rest', behind the ever-dominant Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Rosberg is now upbeat about his chances in tomorrow's 58-lap grand prix and after a rather difficult start to the season for the Brackley-based team, he will be looking to maximise on his best Q performance since the 2010 Malaysian GP.
“I'm very happy with our performance in qualifying and it's amazing to see where we are right now,” Rosberg reflected. “After a difficult start to the season, we are getting closer to the front and I'm pleased that we are making a small step forward each weekend.
“Thank you to the team for a great job so far. We saved one set of new soft tyres for the race, which will be important in terms of strategy. I'm really looking forward to the race.”
Mercedes boss Norbert Haug meanwhile was very impressed with Rosberg's performance and once again the 25-year-old outshone his illustrious team-mate, Michael Schumacher, who was just over a second slower. Schumacher will start eighth in the sister MGP W02.
“It was a great lap from Nico and everybody in the team has done a very good job to improve the car consistently over the last two Grand's Prix,” Haug remarked.
“Third place behind Sebastian and Mark is a good result for us and our guys have worked extremely hard.
“Michael did not get the perfect lap in Q3, after being second fastest during the morning session, but with a good start from his place on the fourth row, he can improve in the race.” Source: Crash.net
Sebastian Vettel says it was an "odd feeling" sitting in the pits during qualifying while watching his rivals try for his pole position
Vettel was in a class of his own in qualifying for the Turkish GP, putting in a 1:25.049 to take provisional pole by 0.405s over his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.
And because of the German's margin over his rivals, Red Bull opted to keep both him and Webber in the pits instead of putting in a late charge.
But, while the Red Bull duo were in the pits, their rivals where out on track, unsuccessfully attempting to put an end to Red Bull's front row lock-out.
"I am very happy with the result," said the defending World Champion.
"We did not have a trouble-free morning, so we had a bit to catch up. I like the track so that helps and it was nice to see that without that many laps I was able to come back and find the rhythm.
"It was funny because Mark and myself decided to skip the second run. It is strange the feeling. The others are on track and you know they can beat you.
"You can just watch and there is nothing you can do. It is good to save a set of tyres but it is an odd feeling. I'm very happy.
"Of course we talked about it before qualifying, we talked about what can happen, you never know, you don't know how quicker the others will be, how much fuels the others have on board.
"We saw in the last race and in the other races, we see this year the races have changed and important to handle the tyre situation, for both of us after the first run we had the feeling that we might be safe but you never know, you do that again until the day arrived, and other people prove you wrong.
"In the end you never know, if it works you are a hero if it doesn't you are not."
As a result of the team's decision, both drivers have an extra set of the softer option tyres available to them for Sunday's grand prix, a move that proved to be a race-winning decision for Lewis Hamilton last time out in China.
The reigning World Champ also took the time to once again apologise to his team for Friday morning's accident, which not only gave his mechanics a lot of extra work but also meant he had to play catch-up after sitting out the afternoon session.
"Apologies to the team and mechanics - obviously I damaged the car pretty much yesterday and we couldn't run at all, we missed the session in the afternoon," said Vettel.
"But they fixed it for today and I think they did a very good job.
"So I'm very happy with the result.
"It was not a trouble-free morning, we had a bit to catch up. It was nice to see that without that many laps I was able to come back and find the rhythm, so all in all I'm very happy today."
Source: Planet-F1
Although he once again qualified in P5, Fernando Alonso says Ferrari have at least closed the gap a bit to leaders Red Bull Racing
Saturday's qualifying session in Turkey saw Alonso take his fourth successive P5 of this year's campaign.
But while he may not be moving up the grid, Ferrari did close the gap to their rivals as last time out in China Alonso was 1.4s off the pace. In Turkey, he was just 0.802s down on Sebastian Vettel.
"Fifth place is not the sort of result one can be pleased about, but today I am happy because I felt the car was more competitive than it has been in the first three qualifying sessions of the season," said the Spaniard.
"Getting into Q2 without using the soft tyres is significant.
"We have made a small step forward in terms of performance: it's not yet enough and we quickly need to make a bigger one, but it's definitely a confidence boost for the whole team, who are working in the right direction.
"I would say that this the first sign of light at the end of the tunnel in this early part of the season. Fifth place also means I avoid the dirty side of the track, which is usually a big handicap here."
Ferrari will now spend this evening deciding what strategy will work best in Sunday's grand prix having been caught out in China when they opted to do a two-stopper.
"It's hard to say what will be the best strategy for tomorrow, because we don't know how the tyres will behave: we will have to be ready for any eventuality and be very flexible."
Alonso also paid his respect to golfer Seve Ballesteros, who lost his battle against cancer.
"Finally, I want to take the opportunity to express my great sadness at the death of a great personality in Spanish sport, Severiano Ballesteros, who put Spain on the golfing map: I offer all my sympathies to those close to him at this painful time."
Source: Planet-F1
Lewis Hamilton is adamant he's "in the fight" for the Turkish GP victory after qualifying in fourth place for Sunday's race
The McLaren driver, the winner of the last grand prix in China, was one of the favourites to at least secure a spot on the front row of the Istanbul grid.
However, he had no answer to the pace of the Red Bulls while Nico Rosberg also put his resurgent Mercedes GP ahead of the McLaren driver.
"It's not pole position but it's better than nothing," Hamilton told the BBC.
"We're starting on the dirty side, but we're in the fight.
"We're not far away but now you see the Mercedes have picked up their pace and also the Ferraris have.
"I'm looking forward to a strong race. It's a long one here but there are chances to overtake and it should be good."
The one thing, though, that Hamilton doesn't have which aided his climb to the top step of the podium in China is an extra set of the softer option tyres.
And that, he admits, could cost him this Sunday.
"We don't have an extra set, we went out, whether that was right or not I don't know." Source: Planet-F1
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg give their reactions after finishing in the top three positions after qualifying for the Turkish Grand PrixSource: FiftyBuckss
When exchanging news with F1-colleagues in Turkey they turned quickly the story to Kimi Räikkönen's Nascar-prospect. The surprising news is still making the F1-reporters talk.
Long time reporter Maurice Hamilton believes that Räikkönen did a completely awesome decision when going to the oval tracks.
– Of course Kimi has a lot to learn. I chatted some time ago with Montoya about how difficult it is for a F1-driver to get into Nascar-driving and he made a long list over everything you have to figure out before starting to do well there.
– It's clear that nobody there will help Kimi. They look at him as an intruder who takes a lot of the publicity they love so much. Kimi's strenghts is that he doesn't care about what others say or do.
– As soon as Kimi has taken his time to learn things he will take his place in the leading group. The car was afterall good starting from the debut. Hopefully Kimi gets so excited that he will drive the whole next season because that's the only way he will start getting those results, Hamilton thinks.
Heikki Kovalainen shrugs his shoulders when I ask for his opinion about Nascar.
– Kimi is going there so why not. They are afterall completely different circles. They use a sledge hammer to put the cars in the right measurements and the monkey wrenches are really as big as men's feet. Everything is upside down in the garage just like at home. The audience likes it and anything can happen in the races when yellow flags come out all the time and when the order is determined during the last laps, Kovalainen thought based upon his one Nascar-visit.
American F1-reporter Dan Knutson reminds that he is not a Nascar-expert. He says that Räikkönen's switch gathered unexceptionally large media-attention especially in the genre's professional magazines.
– Not so that Räikkönen comes to Nascar, it's so that a F1 World Champion is coming to Nascar. I'm sure it will also be widely seen in the publicity when Kimi drives his first races.
– Kimi is experienced and due to his rally background I'm sure he is more ready to start in Nascar than Montoya or some other F1-driver was. Nascar requires that you have to learn everything from the scratch. I believe that Kimi has enough humility to do it since he already started from scratch in rally too, Knutson thinks.
– I don't dare to say a thing about his chances to succeed. It's not going to be easy for Kimi. That's for sure.
Räikkönen's Nascar-switch hasn't caused any bigger hulabaloo in Italy. Marco Evangelisti does however say that people know Kimi will compete in the States but it's a big thing only for the genre's most dedicated fanbase.
– I have to say that Kimi leaving F1 and going to rally was bigger news compared to this one. Of course they follow more closely an old Ferrari-WDC's doings but when the driver is out of F1-circles they don't talk as much about him anymore.
– For me Nascar is a completely strange serie. Yet I know Kimi so well that if he has fun there, then he will do well there. I expected Montoya to do better than he did there, Evangelisti says.
Oleg Karpov told that they were buzzing of excitement for a whole week in Russia over the news Turun Sanomat published.
– It was big news. Kimi is a big name in Russia and he will definitely attract a lot of tv-viewers wherever the satellite is shown. Russia's tv will show Sprint Cup -races one week after the race but in order to see Truck-races one has to have satellite-channels.
– I believe strongly that Kimi will succeed in Nascar too, although it is a completely different world to anything he has ever been used to. Nelson Piquet junior started to do well after learning tens of races. I'm sure Kimi will learn faster.
– In the beginning it would be a great result if Kimi's speed would be enough for the top 10. There it doesn't matter what your starting position is but you have to get all tactical figures to fall in place in order to get a good result in the end, Karpov says.
FormulaBlog - Heikki Kulta
Courtesy: Nicole
Sebastian Vettel's advantage over his rivals in qualifying continued in Turkey as the German claimed his fourth pole position of the campaign
Despite losing valuable track-time on Friday afternoon after crashing his RB7 earlier in the day, the Red Bull driver proved to have measure over his rivals in qualifying.
Vettel clocked a 1:25.049 to beat team-mate Mark Webber to the coveted grid slot at the Istanbul Park circuit.
Nico Rosberg continued Mercedes GP's good run by taking third place while his team-mate Michael Schumacher finally made it into the top ten shoot-out, qualifying in eighth place.
Lewis Hamilton will start the grand prix from fourth place on the grid with his team-mate Jenson Button P6. The two McLarens were split by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Times
01. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:25.049 12 laps
02. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:25.454 10 laps
03. Nico Rosberg Mercedes Grand Prix 01:25.574 15 laps
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.595 13 laps
05. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:25.851 16 laps
06. Jenson Button McLaren 01:25.982 14 laps
07. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:26.296 15 laps
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes Grand Prix 01:26.646 13 laps
09. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:26.659 13 laps
10. Felipe Massa Ferrari no time 16 laps
11. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:26.764 10 laps
12. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 01:27.027 14 laps
13. Paul di Resta Force India F1 01:27.145 11 laps
14. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:27.236 14 laps
15. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:27.244 11 laps
16. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.255 9 laps
17. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.572 7 laps
18. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:28.780 8 laps
19. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:29.673 8 laps
20. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:30.445 7 laps
21. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania 01:30.692 8 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:30.813 8 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania 01:31.564 2 laps
24. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber no time Source: Planet-F1
Racing champions from either side of the Atlantic will get a taste of each other’s world when 2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and double NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart take part in the Mobil 1 Car Swap at Watkins Glen International circuit on June 14.
Hamilton will be behind the wheel of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala NASCAR stock car, while Stewart will try out the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 Formula 1 car.
“I spend a lot of time in race cars, but this will be the first time I’ve been at the wheel of a NASCAR stock car, in the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet,” said Hamilton. “Tony and I will have some fun with the swap and make sure we put on a good show. American race fans are massively enthusiastic about motorsports, so I hope to see a lot of them down at The Glen to see it firsthand. It’s a racers circuit and will give us both the chance to understand the differences between the two styles of racing at this legendary track. Watkins Glen also has a particular connection to the team, as it is where McLaren won our first Drivers’ and Constructors’ world championship in 1974 with Emerson Fittipaldi; I’m looking forward to getting back there with the latest generation of McLaren’s machines!”
“When you’ve been around competitive racing for as long as I have, you really look forward to new experiences,” added Stewart. “This car swap with Lewis is definitely one of those opportunities. I already have quite a bit of respect for what Lewis and the F1 drivers and teams do, so to experience laps in the cockpit of a F1 car and see what Lewis can do in the Cup car is something I am really excited about.”
“We’re incredibly excited to bring together two champions for their first experiences in the other driver’s car,” said Mobil 1 global brand manager Rebecca K. Aldred. “Though the cars they drive are very different, the competitive spirit that Tony, Lewis and their respective teams share is indistinguishable, as is their team’s reliance on Mobil 1 lubricant technology.”
Although ExxonMobil began its successful partnership with McLaren in 1995 through its Mobil 1 synthetic lubricant brand, its relationship with the Stewart-Haas Racing team is new. This year marks the debut season in which Mobil 1 is the co-primary sponsor for the team’s No. 14 car.
Source: NextgenAuto
Felipe Massa insists Ferrari has made a step forward with its latest set of upgrades but is not expecting to be challenge the front runners during this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix.
Ferrari has a new front wing, rear wing, brake ducts and modifications to the floor this weekend in the hope of closing the gap to Red Bull and McLaren. Massa, who set the sixth fastest practice time on Friday, believes there has been an improvement but said the full extent would only be evident in qualifying.
"From what I could see, we have made a step forward in terms of performance, but we are not yet close enough to the best," he said. "It is always difficult to say how much progress one has made after just two free practice sessions: we will have to wait for qualifying to get a clearer picture.
"We are working very hard to catch up and I think we are on the right road, but the others are definitely not standing still. For example, Mercedes seems to have made a significant step forward here.
Deputy technical director Pat Fry admitted the success of the new parts had been mixed.
"Some of the new elements, like the rear wing for example, immediately showed good results, while others, such as the floor and the front wing, still need further careful evaluation."
After a wet first practice session Massa said more rain would play into Ferrari's hands.
"Would I prefer a wet race? Sure, if it turns out we are not competitive then the rain would open up more possibilities, but it could also go well in the dry and it does seem as though the weather is improving. This is a very demanding circuit, but I really like driving here because there are so many different types of corner."
Source: ESPNF1
Mark Webber has confirmed Red Bull's KERS worked well during free practice for the Turkish Grand Prix on Friday.
Red Bull has struggled with its KERS reliablility this season and Webber's car has borne the brunt of the teething problems. After working tirelessly on the problems over the Easter break however, Webber reported that the team had made progress.
"KERS worked pretty well this afternoon - each time we use it we get more experience so, so far so good," he said.
His team-mate Sebastian Vettel crashed heavily during the wet first practice session, meaning Webber had to carry out the team's development and set-up work alone in the afternoon. The Australian said the session had gone well and the data he gathered would be shared with Vettel.
"We learned quite a lot today," Webber said. "It's a pretty challenging venue here with the new regulations - so it was tricky for us all with the weather this morning. We had to fit a lot of our planned work in to this afternoon, but it went smoothly. Sebastian had an issue this morning which could happen to any of us; it just shows you can lose a session very easily. The team will share the data that we gathered this afternoon."
Source: ESPNF1
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton admits that the Red Bull is still half a second quicker than his car but says it is not impossible to catch them, as he proved by winning the last race in China Source: FiftyBuckss
Nico Rosberg demonstrated that Mercedes GP's Chinese pace was not a one-off as he fought for the P1 slot in Friday's Turkish practice
Having qualified fourth last time out in China, Rosberg even led the grand prix for several laps before a fuel consumption issue dropped him down to fifth place.
And although Mercedes GP were encouraged by their pace in Shanghai, there were still a few questions about whether it was genuine.
The team insisted it was and Rosberg proved just that on Friday in Turkey when he finished with the second fastest time of the day, just 0.065s behind McLaren's Jenson Button.
"We have made a decent start to the weekend and I am optimistic for tomorrow. We had a productive afternoon and tried a lot of things with the car," said Rosberg.
"I didn't have too many problems with the tyres on the long run and I was quite surprised by the grip levels, which were higher than I expected. The wet tyres had a lot of grip this morning too.
"I'm happy with what we learned and expecting a very interesting time tomorrow and on Sunday."
Meanwhile, Schumacher finished the day in fourth place, 0.607s off the pace after putting in no fewer than three spins at Turn 11.
"We had quite a positive Friday, and it was especially good that we were able to test both wet and dry tyres. I hadn't really driven the wets so I'm pleased that I finally had some opportunity to use them.
"Also, my sessions were quite eventful with three spins in Turn 11.
"All in all, our car confirmed the performance improvement from China, so we can look forward to the rest of the weekend. We still have some questions relating to the set-up but I am confident we will sort them out tomorrow."
Team boss Ross Brawn has happy with the day's proceedings, saying: "We had a reasonably good day and it was nice to get a lot of work done.
"We had a good opportunity this morning to see what the car was like in the wet conditions. It was also the first time that Michael had really driven the car in the wet, so that's useful as the conditions this weekend could still be mixed.
"Then we had a nice dry session this afternoon and completed a lot of work on low and high fuel. The balance of the car isn't there yet and there is a lot of work ahead, but the team and drivers have worked very well today."
Source: Planet-F1
The Australian was forced to settle for second place behind Vettel after another faultless pole to chequered flag display from the defending World Champion at the Turkish Grand Prix. Sunday's victory helped Vettel to stretch his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 34 points after just four races.
