Mark Webber blames tyre strategy for fifth place finish in Hungarian Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber has blamed wrong tyre strategy for his fifth place finish in Hungary, as he opted to switch to intermediates tyres after rain started again late in the 2011 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Webber added that if he took the right decision from the cockpits, he could have improved his position for the Budapest race.
The team driver kicked off to positive race weekend in Hungary, where he finished his Free Practice session on the grid in a decent manner. However, he could not make a lot of progress during the qualifying round and secured only a sixth place for Sunday’s
race.
The Australian started his Budapest race from the sixth place on the opening grid and came at the fifth place for the Red Bull team.
Webber was 49.7 seconds slower than McLaren’s Jenson Button, who was the winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix..
Talking to reporters, Webber said, “If it rains heavier, for another three or four minutes, then that's the right decision. So that's the roll of the dice you've got to make. Obviously the difference between the slicks and intermediates when it was wet was
a lot.”
He added, “It was pretty slippery on that side of the grid I think. I got away reasonable. I saw the Mercedes and those guys got a very good start - better than me for sure. That was the first part of the race, but you knew it was going to be some more decisions
late in the race. I got some right, some wrong.”
The 34-year-old driver’s decision to switch to intermediates tyres prevented him from making a strong run, as the sudden rain shower stopped quickly and he had to dive in the pitlane for another stop.
Despite his fifth place finish in Hungary, Webber is looking forward to the second half of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Let’s see how he performs in the remainder of the season when the month-long break finishes.
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