Formula One: Webber predicts McLaren Crash
Red Bull’s Mark Webber does not mind bad luck, as long as it happens to someone else. In fact Webber would be ecstatic if that someone happens to be Hamilton or Button, or ideally for him, both of them. The Australian, still sore from his crash with the teammate at the Turkish GP that ruined a highly likely race victory for him has said that a similar fortune awaits the McLaren drivers in the races to come.
Webber has rejected the claims from two McLaren drivers that there is perfect harmony between the two and both are part of a unit. Webber believes that there is much at stake for the two drivers and a destructible rivalry between the two is inevitable. Webber has ruled out the possibility of a beautiful and warm relationship between the teammates, given the fact that both are competing against each other.
While Webber will find some solace if his prediction comes true, if Button and Hamilton actually collide into each other at the race track, but the possibility of such an incident can not be totally ignored if we take into account what has happened at McLaren in the past and what some experts have to say about the British drivers.
During 2007, which was Hamilton’s debut season in Formula One, Hamilton and Alonso experienced a heated relationship as teammates. Hamilton’s strong performance and championship lead did not go well with Alonso, who deemed himself to be the priority driver at McLaren. Hamilton added salt to Alonso’s wounds after a pit stop incident in qualifying when the Spaniard failed to set a flying lap as the time ran out. Ron Dennis has recently said that in 2007, Alonso could not come to grips with the fact that a rookie driver would challenge the defence of his world title.
Webber’s claims of a tense relationship between two McLaren drivers based on high stakes carry some weight. Hamilton and Kovalainen had good relationship arguably because the latter was never into the championship race.
Webber is not the only one hinting out at the possibility of a potential rift between the two. Damon Hill has said that in the wake of two Englishmen fighting out for the British prize, things would boil over between the two, as both of them have home win at the top of their agenda.
Webber himself has experienced some ups and downs of late in the relationship with his teammate Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers have claimed 4 poles and 2 races wins each and Vettel is little ahead of Webber in the drivers’ standings. During the Turkish Grand Prix, where Red Bulls were heading for a one two, Vettel made a move to overtake Webber in the final third of the race, but instead the two cars made contact and Vettel had to retire. Webber was only able to finish the race behind the two McLarens. Webber, who was leading from his teammate on points, had a race ending accident in Valencia, when he crashed in the back of Kovalainen’s Lotus. Vettel’s race victory took him 12 points clear of his teammate.
While the picture is not too rosy at Red Bull itself, Webber expects the actual drama is set to emerge from their rivals McLaren. At the moment, McLaren has two extremely skilful and competitive drivers who happen to be the latest Formula One champions. Both drivers are leading the championship from the rest and are close enough in points for Button to take the championship lead this weekend. Both are countrymen, both having their sights on the home grand prix and both have cars that are second to none. All these factors induce both of them to aim high and remove any doubts of failure to win either the race or the championship.
Any advantage one driver gains in one race is cancelled out by the other in the very next outing. Given the circumstances, Webber could prove right after all.
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