Webber unhappy over wing decision

2010 British Grand Prix

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After winning the British Grand Prix Mark Webber revealed he would not have signed for Red Bull in 2011 if he had thought he would be forced to give up new components for his team mate as happened yesterday.

Speaking in the post-race press conference Webber said:

Yesterday was a really unique situation. It was the first time that the team had really had one component. Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be going forward. That’s why I was disappointed yesterday and was honest with you guys.
Mark Webber

He added “I’m sure we’ll have some pretty decent chats tomorrow.”

Webber credited his pass on Vettel at Copse as being down to a good start, and said he was glad there had been a lot of support races this weekend to keep the track clean:

I spoke to Flavio [Briatore, his manager] last night and he said ‘Mark, just make a good start,’ so that’s what I did and after that I was hoping it would be my day and it was.

It wasn’t that dirty in the end. A lot of support races this weekend which have helped. We have seen a lot of other grid spots this year, particularly here and maybe Valencia and Budapest coming up, probably Hockenheim. To be fair there is sometimes quite a big discrepancy from left to right on the grid but thank God we have had quite a few support races which helped. I think it was the procedure which helped me quite a lot.
Mark Webber

2010 British Grand Prix

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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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    22 comments on “Webber unhappy over wing decision”

    1. I had a dejavu of Alonso’s performance at Monza 2007 after looking at Webber’s race today.

      Italy 2007 with Italian police coming for Ron Dennis’s arrest over the espionage controversy alongwith the intra-team tussle for no.1 I feel was the final nail in the coffin for Alonso’s Mclaren career. And Alonso dominated that race start to finish.

      Similarly here, Webber dominated the race from start to finish. And again he was betrayed by his team. Him calling Flavio the night before the race and asking for discussions immediately after the race, I think this is the end of Webber’s Red Bull career.

      Very little can go right for him at the team now. He will finish the season with them, but unlikely that he will stay with the team even on the Sunday night after the Abu Dhabi GP. Things are broken now, can’t be fixed.

      1. miguelF1O (@)
        11th July 2010, 18:42

        like ron dennis said theres nothing better than bad publicity this fight may not be good with the team but red bulls is earning when brundle said to webber that the dirty side on silverstone isnt as dirty as other gp web agreed with him saying that he was just mad from that point he was concentrated to win and he earned my respect not many drivers admit that they are wrong sometimes

      2. I also had a feeling this might go pretty foul. Webber to Renault for next year?
        After Red Bull pays him out for breaking contract!

        Seriously i think Webber will have a decent talk with Horner and Mateschitz about it and they will give more happy pictures next week.
        After all Webber is a more down to earth character than Alonso and Horner is pretty different fron Ron Dennis as well. And Webber will want to drive the fastest car in the field for quite some races i suspect.

    2. Not sure if the ‘nuclear’ option was best for Webber. I admire the fact he’s out there fighting and telling it as it is. Problem is that by giving Red Bull the option of declaring an unfixable rift, or even agrreing to him leaving next year, they can switch far more easily to full-on Vettel backing, if that’s what they want – which it seems they definitely do. And where would that leave Webber and his championship campaign?

      1. Agreed. Kind of like Hamilton berating his team on radio. Webber should be having this chat with the team behind closed doors.

        1. If you mean Monaco 2007 (?), maybe. But Hamilton was more in Vettel’s position, the rising star nurtured by the team. So he knew he had some leeway with them even though he was up against Alonso. It was a huge risk and almost fractured the Hamilton-McLaren relationship (apparently) but being cold-blooded, it worked: it ensured ‘equal treatment’ and stalled Alonso’s attempt to get number 1 status. Webber knows he’s not the team favourite. So they could feasibly call his bluff. I sincerely hope not as the Webber-Vettel battle is one of the things making this season a classic. And I still think he’s the better option for them. Vettel as he showed today still isn’t mature enough to bring this championship home.

          1. I was thinking of Hamilton’s tantrum in Australia where he asked whose call it was to bring him in for a second pit stop and inferred that it had cost him the race…

            As far as Vettel’s maturity to win the championship, he missed out on a likely 38 points in the first two races due to reliability issues beyond his control. For argument’s sake, that would put him a step ahead of Hamilton and solidly in the lead at this point.

    3. Admire Webber’s honesty, but David BR might have a point on this.

      But anyway, Horner is turning into Ron Dennis of 2007 here. Why didn’t they just flip a coin for it if it was such a close call?

      And all that comment he made about it ‘being worth no time advantage.’ Talk about patronising your audience.

      You should never have signed Mark.

      1. He didn’t have a lot of choice. What other team with a fast car could he have signed with? At the time he signed Renault still wasn’t nearly as strong as they’ve been recently.

      2. Except that Ron Dennis always provided for his drivers equally in 2007 – in other words your analogy is well wide of the mark. Red Bull brought two new wings to Silverstone, but when Vettel broke his they gave him Mark’s, that’s blatant – and material – favouritism, not wishy-washy complaints of “they don’t clap so loud for me”. I wouldn’t have minded so much if Vettel had proved clearly quicker, but he hasn’t, the two teammates are the closest pairing of the field.

        I’ve always liked Red Bull, but their treatment of Webber is distinctly shoddy, you should earn number one driver status, not be handed it on a plate.

        1. @ “the two teammates are the closest pairing of the field”

          I think that’s the main point for most outside observers: there’s very little between them, so showing any bias seems unfair and unnecessary interference. I just don’t get Red Bull’s management. It’s not Webber’s fault he misunderstood the script for this season and performed to same level as Vettel! Undermining him so Vettel’s star shines more brightly isn’t going to work. They simply haven’t got the history and success of a McLaren or Ferrari team to ‘boss’ this story in the media and claim they know what they’re up to with their drivers. Horner just looked plain stupid today being grilled by Jordan (!). And this all stems from him and Helmut sounding off about Webber after Turkey and washing their dirty undies in public. Sure it’s good publicity, but it probably is going to cost them the championship if the internal war continues or worsens. And I doubt they’ll have this degree of advantage over the other teams next season.

          Still it’s all fantastically entertaining, for that thanks!

    4. To think that a day will actually come that I’d be rooting for Webber.
      But I admire the way he has put the pedal to the metal and did his thing.
      Plus his sarcsm laced with humour.

      Keith if ever one needs a ‘fanboi’ – thumbs up icon, its now. :-)

    5. Red Bull gives you wings (but not to Mark Webber)!

      1. Haha. Brilliant.

    6. I hear Webber is trying to exit the contract to stay at Red Bull for another year.

      If he leaves where will he go, Renult?

      1. Lets hope he gets replaced by Kimi. It would be great to see Kimi convincingly beat Seb race in race out.

        1. I’m starting to hope for the same thing so that Kimi fans would stop mentioning this!

    7. Red Bull management are getting this all wrong, how can they take Webber’s wing off his car and give it to Vettel? Vettel was slightly ahead on points but at this stage not enough to justify that decision! This type of action is creating friction. I hope Webber breaks his contract and join a differnt team next year as this situation is going to continue.

    8. Full kudos to Webber for having the guts to speak out and not holding back when he’s already taken the leap.

    9. While I totally agree that Webber got shafted by his team this weekend, and that he has every right to be upset, I really think 2010 is his last, best opportunity to win a world championship, and he should be careful how hard he pushes back.

      What better vindication would there be than beating Vettel to the title? If he misses this chance, he will remember it long after his anger over front wings has vanished.

      Plus, even a RB car with a two-week old front wing is still WAY faster than anything else on the grid, so I think he should remember how lucky he is to have such a terrific tool at his disposal.

      1. I think that’s exactly why Webber should throw caution to the wind: he has the car to win the championship, he should loudly and publicly demand equal treatment without any thought for 2011. I hope Webber wins it this year, and then moves (contract allowing) to another team.

        @ Bo
        Very good :)

    10. Whatever happened has happened now I want Webber to keep his head down & go for the championship. The next race in Vettel’s kingdom will be spectacular to watch.

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