Webber disappointed with Monza outcome
Australia’s Mark Webber has expressed his disappointment at having come only sixth in the race standings at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Though the position, combined with previous title leader Lewis Hamilton’s crashing out allowed the Red-Bull driver to progress, the fine line separating the top drivers this season is making Webber nervous.
“It was good to get some points,” he acknowledged to pitpass.com, “but I came away feeling a little frustrated with sixth place because I lost too much time behind the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg. He seemed to have two lines during the race; one of them was on the circuit and the other was off it. At one stage, he was straight-lining the chicanes every other lap, but the stewards decided not to penalise him.”
The Monza circuit is not typically suited to the Red-Bull vehicle, and Webber blamed his lack-lustre performance partially on not having enough opportunity to become familiar with the car on the Italian track. “My build-up to qualifying didn’t go smoothly. I missed two practice sessions – one on Friday and another on Saturday morning – due to technical problems and I hadn’t even tried the option tyre prior to the start of qualifying. I put together a good lap in Q3 and, all things considered, I was pleased to take fourth at this, our least competitive track all year.”
Webber started off the race in a difficult position, battling Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and then Nico Hulkenberg. Though Webber tried to pass the German several times, including in the pitstop, he met with little avail until at last he managed to pass him in the circuit.
“I had to be quite aggressive to pass him,” reflects Webber, “but every world championship point was important because I knew Lewis had crashed out of the race. As soon as I was in clean air, I was able to lap much faster and I started to gain on Nico Rosberg in fifth, but I ran out of laps.”
Webber continued, “We expected Monza to be our least competitive race of the year, and it was. The RB6 is at its most effective through corners, so we’re looking forward to the next few races.”
Webber currently sits at the top of the Driver’s championship with 187 points, with Lewis Hamilton of McLaren following behind with 182 pts.
Tags: