Webber: ‘we expected to battle between ourselves’

2011 Spanish Grand Prix

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Mark Webber, Red Bull, Barcelona, 2011

Mark Webber said he and team mate Sebastian Vettel expected they would be competing between themselves for pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Speaking after taking pole position, Webber said: “It was pretty clear going into qualifying that we might have a bit of a margin so it was probably going to be down to Seb and I for the front row – without being arrogant, you never can underestimate these guys but we thought we were probably going to battle for pole between ourselves.”

He added: “The lap was pretty good, I was just praying that my number went above number one when I crossed the gantry at the start/finish line, and it did.

“So it was a nice lap, a good battle with Seb and today was my day.”

2011 Spanish 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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    13 comments on “Webber: ‘we expected to battle between ourselves’”

    1. Congrats to Mark he deserved pole. I hope this is the beginning of a change for Mark’s season.

      1. I hope so too, I really do, he’s great to watch both on track and off track.

        if he can keep Vettel honest I reckon Red Bull will offer him another yearly contract, after all if there is an outside chance Webber wins the WDC then Horner and Red Bull wouldn’t want a rival team to bare the Number 1 racecar.

        My favourite palindrome… Racecar

        What is a palindrome?
        No its not! hehe
        :D

        OK I’m done talking to myself.

        1. Lol! Sushi you always crack me up :)

          I’d love Webber to stay in the sport for at least another year. I think both of the Red Bull drivers are great characters but (not wishing any bad luck on Seb) it would be nice to see Mark’s season come alive.

          1. Agreed 100% Steph! That pole could be the saviour to our 2011 championship! But I’d prefer it if we saw the Ferraris and McLarens up there a bit, too. :)

        2. LOL, really sharp there Sush!

          Hope you had a nice chat then.

    2. Cluffy_Wedge
      21st May 2011, 16:17

      Can Mark put up a fight for the title? Let’s face it, all the talk about upgrades from Mclaren and Ferrari with the end result being the Red Bulls have only increased their margin over them.

    3. Everyone expected them to battle between themselves.

    4. For the championship it would be nice if the other cars could join that battle…

      I expected Vettel to go out another time, and not only for the record books. He has shown that he often needs one stop less than Webber and he could’ve gambled to be first with Hamilton second after the first lap.

      So a bit of a conservative approach for Red Bull, showing that they have equality within the team.

      1. Edit: upon rereading my conclusion about equality is a bit unclear. I meant Sebastian could have highered the stakes by going out a second time in Q3. But then it would be harder to keep the other cars distant through teamwork. And therefore I think Sebastien wanted to go out but the team decided against.

        1. Am I wrong in thinking vettel did not have kers? Supposedly worth .5sec.

          1. KERS is worth some 0.25-0.4 seconds. Vettel did not use his KERS for his fastest lap.

    5. A good result for Mark today. His face afterwards and his manner reminds us all that he still has to score the points and he won’t be celebrating much yet.

    6. He worked very hard this week.Good lap,I don’t mind fighting but just don’t take each other out on track.

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