Mark Webber vows stronger return in 2011
Losing the Drivers’ Title by a hair’s breadth to his teammate Sebastian Vettel on Sunday, November 14 in Abu Dhabi, Mark Webber has no doubt that he’ll be back in 2011 with Red Bull, anxious for another shot at the title.
Dominating the standings for much of the year, Weber’s fortunes started declining after a costly crash in Korea. While he fought hard throughout the remainder of the season, his strategy in Abu Dhabi was not successful. Consequently, he finished the final
race of the season in eighth place, sliding to third in the overall standings.
Praising his teammate for securing the world championship, Webber admitted to being disappointed about his performance in Abu Dhabi. However, he told the BBC that he was not going to give in to undue pessimism, stating “there were a lot of positives this
year.”
With the hoopla of the 2010 Formula One season rapidly dying down, Webber admitted he is looking forward to some downtime in order to help put this year into perspective. “There's good time to reflect in the next few weeks and look at the highs and the lows,
but that's the way sport is sometimes."
Webber’s understated ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ approach belies the nail-biting reality of just how close he came to walking away with the title. Heading into Abu Dhabi, the F1 driver trailed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by a mere eight points. Given the fact
that his Red Bull car was the envy of the other teams, it seemed Webber would be a shoe-in for the championship. Indeed, many racing enthusiasts were calling on Red Bull to openly back Webber and relegate Vettel to supporting his main effort, believing that
when the checkered flag fell over the Yas Marina circuit this past Sunday, it would be Webber’s car that pushed its way to victory ahead of the competition.
However, true to the F1 ethos, things did not go according to plan and the hopeful Webber now finds himself dealing with a mixed bag of emotions regarding his defeat. "There are quite a few emotions of course when you come so close to the top and you just
miss out. I tried my absolute hardest. I have great guys around me and we did what we could, but at the end it wasn't enough and that's where it's at.”
However, admitting that "two championships for the team is not a bad year for us," the F1 driver vows to shed regrets and come back even stronger next year, picking up where he left off.
Tags: