Webber fumes after string of problems in qualifying

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Mark Webber was frustrated after technical problems limited him to tenth place in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

His Red Bull lost both the quickshift on its gearbox and had a KERS failure during qualifying. Webber made it into the top ten but will start tenth after not doing a lap in Q3.

“KERS, gearbox, you name it,” said Webber when asked about his car problems. “Driving around so far off the potential it’s unbelievable.”

“Massively frustrating. We look stupid, it’s embarrassing, and it’s a brutal circuit to be out of position on. We should be challenging for the front row, which is possible, and we’re bloody tenth.

“A pain in the arse,” he added, “It’s amazing all the effort that you go to and then you have two weekends on the bounce where you get that.”

Webber said his qualifying setback will make for a difficult race: “We’ve got to get the car operating at the limit the first thing tomorrow. “It’s a long race with not everything functioning correctly.”

“KERS was 50% of it, there was other things, we managed to tick every bloody box in qualifying and made it hard. We’ve got to get that sorted for tomorrow but as usual it’s going to be hard to get the result we could have potentially got.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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66 comments on “Webber fumes after string of problems in qualifying”

  1. Well, this is something SV´s new “team mate” should look forward to.
    I feel so bad for Mark, he could´ve given SV a run for his money.
    I´m just glad HAM got pole, the look on SV´s face was just priceless!! XD

    1. he could´ve given SV a run for his money

      I highly doubt it. Mark is getting a 2011 style thrashing from Vettel this year. In fact I’m happy he isn’t in the top 2 rows for tomorrows race. Mark doesn’t have the pace to challenge Vettel, but he has the pace to upset Alonso and Kimi in their slower machines

      1. Hard not to be thrashed when your team forgets to fuel you for quali, or repeatedly forgets to attach 4 wheels, or your coward team mate pounces on you when you’ve turned your engine down.

        1. Yeah .. thats why Mark has consistently been out qualified and out raced by Vettel over the past 3.5 seasons.

          Webber fans constantly whine about how Red Bull and Vettel have conspired against Webber.. when the fact is that Webber couldn’t get the job done even if all the luck went his way. Watch the 2010 season agin to refresh your memory

    2. @karter22 I think it was a look of bewilderment, like a “not bad Lewis, not bad”! On that subject though, I really liked the handshake between them after the press conference: it’s nice to see some mutual respect between arguably the two top qualifiers at the moment.

      On that very point, I’m in agreeance with @todfod here: Webber is now 10-0 down in qualifying this year (albeit twice out with his control) which is a stat only matched by Gutierrez. Vettel really is on form this year, I’d say on a par with 2011.

    3. Bet Alonso´s posible new teammate is looking forward to be the facto number 2

    4. @todfod

      I highly doubt it.

      Well, at least in the practice sessions, Mark wasn´t that far off. I believe it was fp2 and all of a sudden in qualy he hits “trouble” with his car… That just sucks and I hate it that it always happens to him.

      @vettel1
      Well Max, the “look” all goes down to who interprets it. I don´t know but to me, he looked angry but, I agree it was a nice gesture to shake hands. I think Keith posted a pic in one of the roundus though that really made me chuckle. It´s the handshake but the pose HAM has is “like a boss” type of thing. I found it funny but I must agree with you and @todfod , SV really is looking strong but still, I can´t help but feeling that Mark is getting the “stinky” end of the stick.

      @celeste

      Bet Alonso´s posible new teammate is looking forward to be the facto number 2

      Oh and you truly believe whoever lands in RBR doesn´t know he´s automatically going to be the No. 2 driver?? LOL… Good one Celeste! News flash… Kimi might be buddy with SV but I will change my name if he lands it. I am 99% sure it´s going to be Ricciardo, he´s been bread to play second fiddle to SV. He´s had ample practice at that in STR when he would jump out of the way. Just saying…

  2. I wonder how much time it will take for Webber to call things as they really are.
    Hope for Kimi to stay with Lotus.

    1. @klaas Which is what?

      1. Not trying to feed any conspiracies here… But this will let them select the tire for Webber?

        1. @tvm Yes he has free choice of what tyres he starts on.

    2. @klass Webber doesn’t need to call anything, we already know he is a no.2 driver

  3. I know people are always suspicious about why it always happens to Webber… I don’t buy it that Red Bull are deliberately making him look bad.

    But what a string of bad luck that is…

    1. itws the size of webber that make it complex not a bad luck

    2. Red Bull wouldnt deliberately sabotage one of their own cars but it is patently obvious they are not doing enough on his side of the garage. Even just at the intellectual and not material level, that garage is still ludicrously imbalanced

      1. Nice summary “ludicrously imbalanced”, unfortunately I think it stems further than garage.

  4. Gonna miss him when he’s gone, not many drivers come out and say something is a pain in the **** straight up.

  5. Well at least he can start on the mediums to hopefully gain a few places (and some useful data for Seb). At least he didn’t get these problems during the race where it might have hurt him more.

    1. At least he didn’t get these problems during the race where it might have hurt him more.

      Ever considered applying for a position in RBR’s PR department? You’d get the job in a jiffy :)

      1. @klaas I don’t have a very apathetic voice sadly ;)

    2. At least he didn’t get these problems during the race where it might have hurt him more.

      @vettel1 I find you sometimes can be better than horner . Like convince people , look them in the eye and make them believe that vettel drives a red coloured RBR which is very slow on track . A Glorious career thou shall have :D ( I’m not joking. Its PR people that rule the roost and mint the money nowadays)

      1. @hamilfan I’m not sure if it is intended as such but I am taking that as being very complimentary! I’m just looking on the bright side of life ;)

    3. @vettel1 Nothing says he is going to have a trouble free race, the gearbox problem has been there since practice and who knows with KERS. Mark and Seb also have different styles of driving which result in different rates of tyre wear, Mark usually doesn’t get as much out of his tyres ( due to the car being built to suit Sebs style of driving ) so the data won’t do much for Seb.

      1. ( was a joke :) )

  6. I believe they have enough resources to maintain both their cars. But they simply don’t care.
    Apparently, Webber was too close to Vettel in free practices.

    1. you’d think RBR would fire the guy they don’t like instead of sabotaging him over and over again :)

    2. @slava
      Yes that makes sense. Instead of adding a few exstra kilos of ballast to just make him a tenth or two slower then Vettel they sabotage him in ways which makes him completely useless in the quest to help Vettel against his rivals, and secure 1st place in the WCC.
      And of cause, if they hated Webber so much, why would they have kept re-signing him over and over again instead of pulling someone like Heidfeld or Rosberg in who could deliver decent results and with the right contract, play a clear number 2 to Vettel?
      Furthermore, what happened in Silverstone? Or in Germany? Did Red Bull forget which car to sabotage?

    3. Yes, because Vettel never has any problems. It’s not like he lost KERS last race, or retired from the lead with a gearbox issues the race before, right?

    4. yes, I agree. Webber has won here in Hungary and was right on Vettel’s times. Come qually and it’s time to knock him down a notch and let him do one of his “Aussie grit’ drives.

  7. Fun fact: did you know Red Bull actually want to decrease their chances of winning the constructors championship purely to annoy Mark and appease Sebastian?

    1. Or they want to increase their chances of winning the drivers’s championship by not allowing Mark to annoy Sebastian in the race purely to appease his deep sense of frustration after Malaysia.

    2. like it was ever in danger?
      the tyre melter mercedes, or the one man army ferrari going to take the crown? Red Bull rly doesn’t have to try very hard to get a constructors championship. ofc i’m not saying Mark’s car is constantly saboutaged, but we can agree, Mark’s KERS went out WAY more times then Sebs.
      They seem to be equal on Alternators at least

    3. It’s more that they put all the top mechanics in one team and all the lesser ones in the other. Indeed the end result is unbalanced, but they don’t seem to care. Much better for their WDC chances than when both drivers were fighting each other.

    4. I believe can win the WCC even with one car. They only need to bring that car to the first place in the 5-7 races, and on the podium in the rest. This is quite possible.
      Neither Ferrari guys nor Mersedes nor Lotus drivers will be able to take 2 and 3 place in every race. And even if they do, they will get only 8 points more in every race (18+15=33 against 25). 80 points is more than 67 (difference between Red Bull and Mercedes, who are the closest rivals.). 80 points is more than 70 (2nd, Ferrari). 80 is less than 93 (4th, Lotus).
      So, if Vettel wins every race and Lewis+Nico lock 2-3 place – than Mercedes win.
      Same if Massa and Alonso take those places. Lotus will lose.
      But we also must take into account that Mercedes and Ferrari are very close to each other. Then, they will take away points from each other.
      Lewis and Nico are not consistent at all. So as Massa, so as Grosjean.
      The only drivers that could tackle 2-3 places are Alonso and Kimi. But they are in different teams.
      Considering all that I think Red Bull don’t need to get Vettel in every race to the win. 5-7 wins more and 5-3 podium finishes. Mark did all job (difference in points) already.

    5. It’s amusing that anybody actually came back with any sort of “logical” reply to that. Put simply, Red Bull have no reason to ‘sabotage’ Webber as he’d be doing a far better job taking points away from the competitors than languishing around in the low points scoring positions.

  8. just put RIC from next race on in a red bull and get rid from the old dog WEBBO

    1. yeah, at least Daniel would get out of the broken car with a smile on his face.

      1. @klaas Good one! :D

  9. Imagine if this had been Paul di Resta. Half his team would be dead by now

    1. @malleshmagdum he’d be holding their decapatated head shouting “FREEDOM!”

    2. @malleshmagdum Or PDR would have said in the interview: They make too many mistakes for a world champion team . I always dream of driving for a great team like caterham some day considering their reliability and pure British works manufacturer origin which increases the pride of all the british fans.

    3. PDR would have been so angry that he just broke into tears.

  10. I still remember when Redbull were in F1 and raced two cars
    Do use all a favour redbull either run both cars or don’t
    Such a shame in fact a disgrace
    Look forward to Mark’s tell all book once he is finally out of his misery at the end of season
    Sad for whoever gets the number 2 car

    1. Whoever gets into the 2nd RBR car won’t really care if you feel sad. Just a guess :)

      1. Good guess I am sure Lari

    2. I’m waiting for that book too .

    3. Remember. Webber was never a prisoner in this. He could have walked out the door and never looked back. But he didn’t. He came back, year after year to race once more.
      He chose that seat on his own. He was given a shot at a championship.
      He was given a seat in what has been the best team over a period of over 3 years.
      An opportunity which only a select few drivers have ever been given.
      I don’t see why anyone would pity him.

      1. Good post. I can see how anyone would think Webber is a vicitm. He is the master of his own destiniti, he should have walked off years ago.

        And the only way he is gonna write a book about this is if he have evidence of this.

        1. Maybe you are right he should have walked away years ago
          Maybe he was told there is no team orders or Maybe there will be no number one driver
          Maybe he believed this was true.
          Maybe a good book to read if it happens.

          Lots of maybe’s

  11. Car problems for Webber and Vettel during their time together at Red Bull.

    Webber

    2009 – Singapore (DNF, brakes)

    2010 – Bahrain (some sort of minor engine issue), Canada (five place starting penalty for gearbox change)

    2011 – China (started 18th after electrical problems in qual), Canada (unable to use KERS in qual)

    2012 – Bahrain (had no KERS for the first lap), Europe (problems with DRS in qualifying), Germany (five place penalty for gearbox change), Belgium (five place penalty for gearbox change), India (slight KERS problem caused him to lose 2nd, finish 3rd), USGP (alternator, DNF)

    2013
    – Australia (ECU/KERS issues at start of race), China (out of fuel in qual, start from pit lane, wheel fell off), Germany (Wheel fell off leaving the pits), Hungary (KERS trouble in qualifying)


    Vettel

    2009 – Hungary (DNF, suspension), Europe (DNF, engine failure)

    2010 – Bahrain (sparkplug probelms cost him the win, finished 4th), Australia (DNF, drivetrain problems cost him the win), Spain (brake problems, pit stop problems), Canada (gearbox problem), Korea (DNF, blown engine)

    2011– Spain (Kers problems in qual), Abu Dhabi (DNF, tyre delaminated), Brazil (gearbox problem)

    2012– Europe (DNF, alternator failure), German (KERs problems), Belgium (DNF, alternator failure), Abu Dhabi (out of fuel in qual, started from pit lane)

    2013 – British GP (DNF, gearbox failure), German GP (lost KERS for a while in the race)

    Conclusion – both Red Bull drivers have had essentially the same number of car problems from 2009 onwards. Vettel’s problems tend to be a lot more severe through: he has eight car related DNF’s to Webber’s three.

    1. I suppose another conclusion would be, Red Bull cars are failure prone. Newey’s McLarens were also rather fragile.

    2. @jonsa great comment. And maybe a fragile nature is the price to pay because of the speed

      1. @celeste it almost certainly is: it’s not hugely common to have a super reliable and super fast car – I can think of the 2011 Red Bull, the Ferrari’s of the early 2000’s, the McLaren MP4/4 and that’s about it really!

    3. @jonsan great comment except for one small detail: for 2012, the second alternator failure was in Italy, not Belgium ;)

      By the looks of things, Webber was only more unlucky in 2012 (although the consequences of his problems were arguably smaller). Vettel bore the grunt of the failures in 2010 it appears though: were there any conspiracy claims then? I doubt it somehow.

      1. That should read *notably more unlucky.

    4. You left out all his “bad starts”. You cannot have all weekend where your starts work perfectly and then on raceday you somehow mess up your clutch settings so frequently? I call ********. Red bull will try blaming McLaren’s ecu again.

      1. “Bad starts” are not a car problem, as a rule. Webber has been having bad starts long before Vettel showed up at Red Bull, in fact long before Webber showed up at Red Bull.

    5. Great stats, as the results show the race failures have been shared across the two drivers.

      If someone can be bothered to review the practice/qualifying failures experienced by RedBull cars, I think you find Mark wearing the jokers hat on a almost permanent basis. Guinea Pig!

      1. That list includes qualifying failures.

        1. Then your list is fake.

          1. @solo – Here’s a pretty much complete list, which still shows that Webber hasn’t had that many more issues than his teammate.

            https://www.racefans.net/groups/f1/forum/topic/vettel-webber-and-reliability-at-red-bull/

  12. Redbull is probably using Webber’s car to try out new things.

    1. @jason12 he’ll have that role now but I think in the case of the failures themselves he was just unfortunate on this ocassion.

  13. Webber’s just driving the parts car ..

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