Did Mark Webber try to take out one of his rivals?
The Korean Grand Prix was quite a spectacle last weekend.
Sebastian Vettel was only nine laps away from winning the race, but an engine failure ended his hopes. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso picked up the pieces and took the win, while Mark Webber, who had been leading the Formula One world championship heading into the grand prix, crashed out after losing control of his Red Bull.
Webber took out Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg after bouncing off the wall and back onto the track, but while it was put down as an accident, some think he could have done more to avoid causing a collision.
One person with that view is former driver and former Toro Rosso (Red Bull’s sister team) co-owner Gerhard Berger. Even though Webber admitted the incident was his fault, Berger believes the Australian deliberately avoided not slamming the brakes on and wanted to wipe out one of his championship rivals.
“He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car at the wall,” he said. “He took out Rosberg, but it was the wrong one. I think in his mind he would have preferred [Fernando] Alonso or [Lewis] Hamilton.
“Yes, it's clear [he did it intentionally]. He goes off and it's over. It's so frustrating and a thousand thoughts go through your mind. Either he had a brake problem, but I don't think he did. One has the feeling that you would rather take one with you, take a point off him,” Berger added.
Naturally, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hit back at these claims by Berger, branding them as “absurd.”
“As with every incident in Formula One, opinions will always be made without all the facts,” said Horner. “Just to be absolutely clear, Mark's intention was not to take out another driver after his crash in the Korean Grand Prix and it's ridiculous to suggest otherwise.
“After Mark's impact with the wall, it was clear on the TV and from the data that his car was badly damaged. However, the natural and immediate instinct of any competitive driver is not to give up and to keep going.
“In the atrocious conditions, Mark made the snap decision to continue as every driver would in that situation. It's absurd to suggest that Mark would ever deliberately take out another driver.
“Mark accepted immediate blame for this incident, which in itself deserves credit,” he added.
Webber is 11 points off leader Alonso with only two races remaining, and despite his crash, is still in contention to win his first world title, without hitting a rival.
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