Webber leads home the Renault Engined Quartet
By Ian Lockwood
June 23 2008
Mark Webber might have finished sixth overall in the French Grand Prix at Magny Cours to increase his points tally for the season so far to 18, but he also won the internal Renault battle on home turf; the Red Bull Racing driver leading home a quartet of Renault powered cars across the line in sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth places!
Although he was beaten away from the line by a lighter-fuelled Timo Glock in the Toyota, Webber was able to run in free air for most of the first stint which contributed to him jumping both Glock and the even lighter fuelled Alonso at his first stop. Prior to stopping, Webber had been running in seventh position but by virtue of running longer than his most immediate rivals, had moved up the order to third place before pitting on lap 23. He rejoined in 10thposition and should have been fifth once all the first stops had been completed.
However, all his good work in the first stint almost came undone at the start of his second stint when he lost control over the kerbs coming out of the final chicane onto the start/finish straight, and the Australian ended up sideways across the track. Thankfully, he avoided any contact and was able to gather everything up and get going again but not before Alonso had passed him to regain the position.
The two-times world champion began to ease away from Webber as the second stint unfolded while McLaren-Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen was hauling in Webber at an alarming rate as he staged a strong recovery from 10th on the grid. Webber was able to withstand the challenge until lap 41 when the Finn passed him at turn three, relegating Webber to seventh.
Alonso pitted again on lap 42 but Webber went six laps longer to emerge ahead of the Spaniard again. Just to add a touch more spice to what was already developing into an exciting race up and down the order, light rain began to fall with about 15 laps to go. A raging battle for third between Jarno Trulli, Kovalainen and Robert Kubica enabled Webber and Alonso to edge closer as they began lapping half a second quicker but their challenge faded in the final ten laps as the pace picked up and the gap increased again.
Webber spent the remaining laps with both Renault drivers looming large in his mirrors. When the trio came up to lap one of the Force India cars with two laps to go, Webber was able to scrabble past but Alonso went wide as he tried to pass Giancarlo Fisichella and it was Piquet jnr who came out ahead in the scrap for seventh place, the order staying that way until the chequered flag.
Said Webber afterwards, “I didn’t have the best of the starts as both David and I had problems with the clutch. Fortunately I only lost one position to Timo Glock. Midway through the first stint, we discovered we were racing Alonso who we knew was on a short strategy. Glock also pitted before me which was good to see as I knew I could jump him at the first stop. I emerged ahead of Fernando but at the end of my out-lap and starting my first timed lap I had a big moment over the kerbs at the last chicane when I thought I was going to lose the car. Luckily I managed to just save it but unfortunately I lost the spot to Fernando again.
“I then had a big dice with Heikki. He was very quick and we knew it would be extremely difficult for us to keep him out; if he didn’t get me on-track, he would certainly get me in the stops. As it turned out he eventually passed me at turn three.
“My focus switched back to Fernando as we approached the second round of stops. We knew he was short again and so we were able to jump him. After that, I had three or four laps when my tyres were in pretty good shape and I was able to hold the gap to 3-3.5 seconds. But, then came the predicted graining on the front left tyre so the middle part of the stint was a bit more difficult to fight with Fernando as he had been through his graining phase already. In the end though, it was relatively comfortable for me as I knew it would be difficult for Fernando to pass me and so we held on for sixth place.”
Incidentally ITV's coverage drove me mad - might as well have called the race the Hamilton GP. Can't believe the focus on him even when he was bumbling around in 15th, who cares!! For the first quarter of the race we hardly glimpsed any other drivers - it was all Hamilton and it made me sick. Fine to focus on him if he's battling up the front but please give it a rest if he's out of contention.
www.racingbulls.net
Quote:Mark Webber
“I didn’t have the best of the starts as both David and I had problems with the clutch.
Does that explain the slow starts?
Hopefully RBR are on to it. This is an expensive way to lose points...
I'm really itching for a good race in Silverstone, some updates to the car would be swell, back ahead of Toyota and nibbling around the back of the BMWs would be awesome. Heidfeld is easy meat if the BMWs are at out level. Regardless, we've got to keep the points run up, teams will go up and down but strong championship positions come from consistancy. We're the only midfield team being consistant, we've got to keep that up!
http://www.patronisef1.com - My solution to F1's 'bore' problem.
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Mark Webber - WINNER 2009 German Grand Prix!
Quote:LoudHoward
Pretty cheap way to lose points imo.
Or a cheap way to gain points, perhaps?!
Whatever - they need to fix it!!
I agree, though. If we can gain another small performance gain, we'll be right in the thick of it all.
Like others, I'm hungry for more than a 6th place every race...
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Mark Webber - WINNER 2009 German Grand Prix!
Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.