Webber makes his mark at Monaco
For years Mark Webber has strived to be a decent Formula One driver. It took him 132 attempts to get his first win in Formula One, which occurred at the German Grand Prix last season. Now, he has turned into a championship contender after winning back-to-back races, and is on top of the drivers’ standings.
He is like the Australian version of Jenson Button. Both have taken their time to find fame after being dubbed the next rising star.
Making his Formula One debut in 2002, for Minardi at his home Grand Prix in Australia, Webber finished a respectable fifth. Jumping from Minardi to Jaguar Racing, and then to WilliamsF1, Webber is now truly at home with Red Bull, where he’s been since 2007, and now could find himself being crowned world champion at the end of the season.
He stormed to victory at yesterday’s Monaco Grand Prix, and stood on the top spot of the podium for the second time in a week. It is the first time in his career that he has managed consecutive victories, after winning the Spanish Grand Prix as well.
“I said in the last press conference when I won in Spain that this is the greatest day of my life. To win in Monaco is a dream for any Formula One driver. It is a very, very special event and every Formula One victory is special but to win on the streets here fair and square off pole position, no attrition again, that’s nice and to control the race from the front. To join such great winners here is a real special moment for me. I was reminded yesterday that Jack Brabham won here in 1959, so it has been a while for the Australians. A special day,” said Webber.
Webber was the fastest driver on the grid for the race, but every time he built up a lead, the safety car was brought out, and on four occasions all of his hard work had gone. Current world champion Button retired on the third lap with an engine problem, while Nico Hulkenberg ended his race in spectacular fashion in the tunnel. As the race went on, three world champions were chasing one another, Lewis Hamilton from Fernando Alonso from Michael Schumacher. A total of 10 world titles between them were only covered by a few seconds.
Webber had got off the line cleanly, and his teammate Sebastian Vettel got the jump on Robert Kubica at the start of the race to grab second place, and the top three stayed as they were for the whole 78 laps. A podium place for Kubica was rewarding for Poland’s first Formula One driver, who came close to snatching pole position. He kept up with Vettel in a struggling Renault to comfortably finish third.
“Finishing third in Monaco is a super result for us after an excellent weekend. Nobody was expecting us to finish on the podium here, but we were up at the front all weekend and the whole team really deserves this result,” said Kubica.
Ferrari’s Alonso started from the pit lane after his crash put him out of qualifying, and he made his way through the field. Overtaking in Monaco is virtually impossible, but in a much superior car to some of the other drivers, he was able to find a way through the backmarkers, pulling off his moves on the exit of the tunnel. The first safety car allowed him to make a pitstop and change his tyres, making the compulsory switch, and this propelled him up the field, as others made their stops.
He finished in sixth, and despite his problems this season he only finds himself three points behind co-leaders Webber and Vettel.
Schumacher’s return to Monaco was always going to be eventful. His most recent race here was in 2006, when he was penalised for his “parking” at Rascasse, which stopped Alonso from grabbing pole position. It was one of the lowest points of his career.
Yesterday, Schumacher and Alonso were once again embroiled in controversy. The race was going to finish behind the safety car. Schumacher overtook Alonso on the final corner, and pinched sixth place from the Spaniard. However, after a stewards’ enquiry, Schumacher was given a 20-second penalty and was demoted to 12th. According to the FIA rule regulations, the 41-year-old had breached rule 40.13, which states “If the race ends while the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking.”
Introduced this year is the inclusion of a former Formula One driver on the panel with the stewards, to represent the drivers. Ironically, Monaco was the turn of 1996 world champion Damon Hill. The Briton was the victim to one of Schumacher’s controversial moves in Adelaide in 1994, and it cost him the world championship. He may have enjoyed dishing out the penalty to his former adversary. When Schumacher was asked about this he said “I guess not, but it's an interesting combination.”
For consecutive weekends, Webber was in the zone, and not even his teammate Vettel could handle the Aussie. “Especially in the beginning and the restarts I wasn't able to keep up with him, there was a big difference,” said the German.
No doubt the celebrations will continue as Red Bull firmly establish themselves as the team to beat. “I’m predicting some very bad headaches in the morning, that’s for sure. The team deserves it, there’s no question about it. You have to enjoy your victories. At the end of the day we’ve got some bigger goals to achieve this year but this is a very, very unique day for the team,” said Webber.
The Monaco Grand Prix marked Red Bull’s dominance as the season’s pacesetters, and now they lead both the drivers’ and constructors’ standings, with Webber and Vettel joint top on 78 points. With six out of six pole positions and with three out of six race wins, Red Bull are runaway favourites for both titles, and the other teams need to catch up sooner rather than later otherwise it will be too late.
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