Mark Webber

I'm a little puzzled as to why Webber doesn't have a page in the teams and drivers section, as Webber is a pivotal figure in the story upfront. There are questions that need to be asked. Why can Vettel win, and Webber struggle to get on the podium fighting Ferraris and McLarens? Why is the man that was noted as a good qualifier unable to get near Vettel? Did the leg break in late 2008 do him serious performance damage? and What should Webber do in the near future?

Mark Webber. Over to you...

 

[FB]

Sky just replayed Webber's "Multi 21" comment from Malaysia He just looks like a sad man who isn't fast enough. Well done Mark, retiring was the best move.

 

[RasputinLives]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109516

Red Bull say they are determined to get to the bottom of the 'clutch issues' Webber has had all season which has meant he has got so many bad starts.

I think I can save Red Bull a lot of money here. All they need to do is purchase the season reviews for all seasons Webber has been in F1 on DVD, watch them, and then they'll understand the 'clutch issues'.

 

[Mephistopheles]

It can't be a clutch issue surely! As it would affect both cars....

 

[teabagyokel]

RasputinLives - Yeah, they could solve this bad starts problem by hiring Daniel Ricci... - oh!

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives

Simple solution - lose about 15kgs Mark so they can change the ballast of the car

or swap cars with Seb

 

[no-FIAt-please]

I think Webber said this week that he might be retiring a year early perhaps, but the chance to join Porsche was too great. I would retort that he is leaving three years too late. Since 2010 he has been mightily outclassed by Vettel, not just being worse, but the gap between the two team-mates is one of the largest on the grid. Webber's performance in Singapore was terrible, probably the worst team-mate comparison since Hamilton/Button at Montreal 2012.

 

[Il_leone]

2011 yes
2012 second half when Red Bull changed the car and Vettel went up and Webber dropped like a stone
2013 he has been mentally been battered and never recovered from Malaysia

 

[Bill Boddy]

I'm sorry, but I don't see just where Webber was terrible. Red Bull made a mistake by not bringing him in when the safety car was deployed ; this put him in a position where he was having to play follower-my-leader in a car which is known not perform well when in traffic. He can hardly be blamed for his gearbox blow up.

 

[Fenderman]

Whilst I don't think Webber is as fast as Vettel it should be remembered that for some inexplicable reason one car has been almost indestructible whilst the other consistently craps out. Webber's experience might have been enough to make it more of a contest with Vettel but it has never been an even playing field. It has been clear for an age where Red Bulls priorities lay and no amount of bluff and bluster will hide it.

Having said that, I too think Webber should have left "The Young German" (as the Beeb calls him) to it a long time ago.

 

[RasputinLives]

Vettels car is indestructable? Hmmmm. I think you might find he's just better at driving round the issues. His car certainly had far more issues in 2010 and he still won.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

It is frustrating as hell for a Webber fan to know that if you don't qualify better and start better your chances of a reasonably close second to your team mate are shot ... let alone a race win ... and that you will be mired in the pack with a quicker car but consigned to a controlled (Pirelli) race to try to maxmize your result ... but it must be frustrating to the exponential to fans of other makes and drivers when the cold hard reality is that Sebastian Vettel has owned F1 in his RB since he snagged his first title in 2010 to now ... and that outside of Seb having either Hamilton or Alonso as his team mate ... that ain't going to change at least until we see how the 2014 models shake out at testing in February...

I have a feeling (and it is only a feeling) that Seb is lighter on the machinery than MW ... he certainly doesn't have to put it through the wringer as often leading from lap 1 ... how much of Seb's lighter touch accounts for less failures / issues we see I don't know ...

 

[Fenderman]

I agree entirely with your first paragraph ZakspeedYakspeed but I doubt that Webber's driving style can be blamed for many of the technical failures his car has suffered. There was certainly nothing he could have done to cause an "air" leak in the pneumatic valve system of his engine this weekend. Other issues over the years have been gearbox failures that are usually a result of problems with the hydraulics etc.

Seb and Mark's intra-team complexion is much like the contrasting one between Hamilton and Button so it could be argued that Vettel's ability to throw the car around enables him to be the faster of the two. Like Button, Webber has a characteristically smooth driving style and, again like Button, he occasionally but inconsistently shows he can throw the car around.

Another factor has to be to do with fear or trepidation. Webber has had several very major accidents in his career, including space flight in a Le Mans Mercedes CLK and that horrendous take off and landing a couple of seasons ago in F1. Inevitably as one gets older one loses the fearlessness that young drivers like Vettel still possess. I believe that is the main reason racing drivers have a peak and it is only a matter of time and circumstance that determines when that apex is reached. After that there is no way back, not for a human being anyway.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

Fenderman ... agree with what you say ... the Le Mans accident could well have ended many a drivers career ... you only have to look at recent Le Mans races to see how dangerous this event still is even in the "uber safe" world we exist in...

People forget that the only driver to visit the Pirelli factory during the 2010 post season before they entered F1 was Seb ... MW was probably off in Tasmania or surfing ... Lewis was trying to woo back his g/f again ... Jenson was likely in Japan saving the gay whales ... Alonso probably holed up in Spain somewhere with a raven haired beauty ... and young Seb was in Italy asking questions about the tyres ...

I do like this quote from MW ... Valencia 2010: "I had time to worry about whether there were any bridges at that point on the track..."

 

[Bill Boddy]

I can't help thinking that Vettel's trip to Pirelli was pure PR. Unless you can show me that he is an expert in tyres and suspension and that Pirelli gave him information which went to no-one else.

They couldn't even give him better tyres as a friendly gesture because they are allocated at random.

 

[Fenderman]

A correction to my earlier post where I wrote: "There was certainly nothing he could have done to cause an "air" leak in the pneumatic valve system of his engine this weekend.":

I had got a bit carried away with the "air leak" affecting Rogro that I included it above when I should have been referring to the radiator leak and loss of fluid resulting in Mark's engine blowing up.

My apologies for the slip but I'm still asleep ...

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

Bill Boddy ... quite possibly it was a PR exercise ... but from the article I read about it I seem to remember that Seb didn't view it that way. ..if he could have got some useful information then ... before anyone else did ... who knows ... he seems to be a very bright young boy that Sebastian ...

 

[Blog Zbod]

I can't help thinking that Vettel's trip to Pirelli was pure PR. Unless you can show me that he is an expert in tyres and suspension and that Pirelli gave him information which went to no-one else....

No one is arguing Vettel merits an O-level in elastomeric engineering from his school outing to Milan. Sunday at Singapore, he put on a master class in tyre management. That is a learned skill. The trip to Milan was part of his education.

Bill Boddy ... quite possibly it was a PR exercise ... but from the article I read about it I seem to remember that Seb didn't view it that way. ..if he could have got some useful information then ... before anyone else did ... who knows ... he seems to be a very bright young boy that Sebastian ...

I am inclined to believe the most important aspect, the most lasting benefit, was the PR, ...provided by "PR" you meant "personal relationships." He only waited until the second race of the 2011 season -- Spa -- to cash in on those new acquaintances.

After a lacklustre FP1&2, he took pole and went on to win the race, but only after spending Friday evening with the Pirelli boffins. And they very likely would have given him exclusive information because his inquiries undoubtedly would have focused on his own predicament.

There is something to be said for being able to call a man by name, as well as for knowing who are the brightest blokes in the room. I think Vettel will be reaping the benefits of that trip to Milan for so long as he and Pirelli both remain in F1. Anybody who never has bought the Pirelli boys a round of beers has some catching up to do.

 

[teabagyokel]

Whilst I don't think Webber is as fast as Vettel it should be remembered that for some inexplicable reason one car has been almost indestructible whilst the other consistently craps out.

One of the cars has retired of 75% more mechanicals in the time the two of them were team-mates.

 

[cider_and_toast]

fascinating, obviously Webber's technical retirement bad luck is more of a perception than reality.

 

[Fenderman]

Now there's an eye opener! Are those figures inclusive of 2009?

Edit: See even a host of inhabitants in one head can be led astray by a myth