Mark Webber has taken his first win of the season at Interlagos overnight, winning his second Brazilian Grand Prix. Webber started second on the grid for the final race of the season, but was gifted the lead on lap 30 after gearbox issues forced Sebastian Vettel to let his team-mate pass. The win secured the Australian third [...]
Continue reading...Sunday, September 11, 2011
Speculation that Red Bull's dominance over pole position this season would come to an end in Italy proved wrong, with Sebastian Vettel taking his least-predictable P1 of the year at Monza. The German, who almost lost his car as he slid through the Ascari chicane, recovered to bank an unbeatable lap time of 1m 22.275 seconds. 'We thought it would be much closer than that,' said Vettel. 'We are quite quick throughout all three sectors, so we just had to put it together.' The German was stuck in traffic as all cars but Senna left the pitlane at once, but mistakes by Hamilton, Button's decision to abandon his fast lap, and teammate Mark Webber unable to extract the same pace from the Red Bull meant that he kept the RBR7's 100 per cent pole record for 2011 alive. 'We were not expecting, not thinking of being on pole by that margin,' he continued. 'This year, I have to say the car is very good here. The balance is perfect.' The pace promised by McLaren in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix was only good enough P2, with Hamilton pipping teammate Button to the front from by half a tenth. 'Sebastian was mega quick today. It looked like we'd be quite competitive in the weekend, but that last lap was untouchable for me,' elaborated Hamilton. 'I didn't have another half a second in the bag. We perhaps could have got another couple of tenths out of the car.' Button noted that despite Red Bull running a seemingly lower downforce package than McLaren, they still managed to move faster in the high speed turns.
Continue reading...Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sebastian Vettel has perpetuated Red Bull’s Saturday dominance with a dazzling pole position in Belgium. After an afternoon of rain, conditions were slowly coming to the cars, so much so that the teams dared to fit slick tyres from the beginning of Q3. Lap times subsequently dropped rapidly into the low 1m 50s, with Webber setting the [...]
Continue reading...Monday, August 1, 2011
Red Bull Racing advisor and President of the International Mark Webber appreciation society, Dr Helmut Marko has claimed that Mark Webber will "probably retire in 2012". Speaking in an interview with Australian television station ONE HD on the future of young Australian Daniel Ricciardo, Marko let slip about Webber's future. "As with the other Australian, he is probably going to retire in 2012," Marko said. "We need to find one of our juniors who can replace Mark Webber." The reference to Webber as "the other Australian" is consistent with Marko's known dislike of Webber. Marko said in the interview that Red Bull expected Daniel Ricciardo to improve in the Hispania Racing Team drive if he's to step up to a Toro Rosso or Red Bull in the future.
Continue reading...Monday, August 1, 2011
Jenson Button has commemorated his 200th Grand Prix start with a scintillating win of strategy in Hungary overnight. The Briton, who won his first Grand Prix at the Hungaroring in 2006, came from negotiated a green circuit and two rain sessions to take his 12th career victory and second of the season. 'For some reason I like these conditions, don't ask me why', said Button after the race. 'All round, an amazing weekend'. 'A great call by the team to put me on the prime tyres when they did.' 'I think we're going into the break on nice high.' He led home championship leader Sebastian Vettel who, despite not taking victory for the past four rounds, has extended his championship lead to 85 points over teammate Webber. 'I couldn't push as hard as I would like to', commented Vettel. 'Second today was an important step. Nevertheless, I think the win was in reach today and we didn't get it'. 'It's clear now that they [McLaren] have done a step forward and we need to make sure we come back.' Fernando Alonso completed the podium with a strong third place finish, confirming Ferrari's return to form is able to persist through all conditions.
Continue reading...Sunday, July 24, 2011
Mark Webber has taken his third pole position of the season to start from P1 for the second consecutive race at the Nurburgring. Webber set his lap within the first five minutes, which saw Alonso and Hamilton swap fastest times before the RBR-7 put four-tenths between the Australian and his nearest competitor. "The form's been getting a little bit better over the last couple of races," said Webber post-qualifying. "The boys did a great job with the car. They had some pretty late nights in the lead up to this event. "If someone was to get me, they'd deserve it because I couldn't have gotten much more." Despite starting from pole twice this season, Webber has failed to lead a single lap so far in 2011, often conceding his position off the line. "I'll be in there [tomorrow] pushing very, very hard, don't worry," he said confidently. The first stint of Q3 saw Sebastian Vettel follow him closely, slotting in behind his teammate by little more than a tenth, keeping Fernando Alonso's Ferrari at bay by a further 0.4 seconds. It was Hamilton, however, who throw his unlikely hat into the ring to compete for pole during the Q3's second stint, posting a time faster than anyone in the first sector. "It was one of the happiest and most comforting laps I've ever had, it's just incredible" commented a joyful Hamilton. The Englishman, however - who spent most of the weekend talking his chances down - fell painfully short, with less than one-tenth separating him from Webber, not that he seemed to mind. "That was a good lap," he said over team radio as qualifying finished. "That was a wicked lap." "We definitely underestimated how good the car would be when we went to light fuel," he added in the post-qualifying press conference. "A huge congratulations to my team, a fantastic effort. I'm really happy I could put it up here for them." Hamilton's last-ditch efforts meant that Vettel was relegated beyond the first row of the grid for the first time this season, breaking a fourteen race streak.
Continue reading...Monday, June 27, 2011
Sebastian Vettel led home the longest field in Formula One history to claim his sixth victory of the season in a largely uninspiring European Grand Prix. The German, now well accustomed to the sensation, dominated from pole to flag in flawless style as Red Bull's closest rivals in McLaren and Ferrari failed to make in impression on the leader. 'I tell you I enjoyed it so much,' he said. 'When it's just between you and the car... for some reason I enjoy this track.' 'We managed to put everything together for a faultless weekend. 'From beginning to the end, fantastic.' The most Vettel had to battle with was traffic as he set about lapping a full-length field, with all 24 cars finishing to make it the greatest number of drivers to complete a race. Fernando Alonso did well, however, to prove Ferrari's progress thus far this season to finish a confident second after a number of position changes with Australian Mark Webber, who managed third. 'It was an interesting race, for the fans and for the people watching on the TV, to see the fight with Webber all the way through,' reflected the home crowd favourite. 'The teams did a very good strategy by keeping the car out a few laps longer on the soft tyre. 'In the end I think the second place is the maximum we can have.' Webber held on to second place on the first lap after a spritely start from Felipe Massa, but eventually succumbed to a combination of KERS problems and Alonso's pace on the soft tyre. His gearbox would prevent him from challenging the Spaniard later in the race. 'I think we should have [been able to score a Red Bull one-two], but in the end we didn't,' conceded Webber. The fight between the two culminated in the final pit stop, which saw Webber gamble on an early switch to the prime compound. His pace on the opening few laps saw Alonso maintain his place after his stop, while a gearbox fault saw any chance of a fight back neutralised. 'It was my fault to miss second today. It was not really known how the medium tyre would perform on the out lap. '[But] I think it was my best race of the year, to be honest.'
Continue reading...Saturday, March 26, 2011
They are running less downforce and new tyres but despite the best intent of the World's Governing body to slow the cars down, Sebastian Vettel will start tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix from pole with a time faster than last year. With a stunning lap of 1:23:539 Vettel again proved his superiority over team-mate Mark Webber and the rest of the F1 field. Even more impressive when one considers that he didn't even use the added boost of his KERS button. Vettel said that he was surprised at just how well the car ran and how well the new Pirelli tyres performed. "We have made the first step and starting the season this way with a pole position is a good sign for the team." siad Vettel. "We’ve been working very hard to get the RB7 to where it is now – it’s thanks to all those in the factory and those here, down under, for preparing the car. If you look at the points we still have zero like everyone else, so we need to see what happens tomorrow.”
Continue reading...Thursday, March 10, 2011
In the wake of Lewis Hamilton's public flogging from the Melbourne media after last year's "Burnout" scandal, local hero Mark Webber described Victoria as "A nanny state". These comments provoked mock outrage from the talkback radio demi-gods of Melbourne and their loyal army of lonely housewives, bored loners and senile geriatrics. Now Webber is caught up in another controversy that again proves his original statement 100% correct. The Melbourne Grand Prix, and Red Bull want Mark to drive an F1 car across Melbourne's less than iconic Bolte Bridge.
Continue reading...Monday, February 28, 2011
Despite the rumours, the new Infiniti sponsorship of Red Bull Racing will not see the team’s engines branded as Infiniti. The announcement was made at this weeks Geneva Auto Show but had been widely circulated by International media despite an embargo for midnight February 28th. Infiniti is the premium, luxury brand of Renault partner Nissan and is [...]
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Monday, November 28, 2011
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