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 At the end of qualifying on Saturday it was looking like another Weekend for Red Bull to dominate the podium, but how things changed! With Webber in pole and team mate Vettel starting 3rd on the grid it was Red bulls race to loose.
After a good 1st Pit stop Webber managed to stay in 1st and Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton into second place so the 1-2 was on the cards again, until disaster struck! Vettel was catching Webber and tried to pass him down the back straight but in doing that both cars collided and that put Vettel out of the race and let both McLarens through. Webber managed to pit get his nose cone changed and finish in 3rd. Both drivers were playing the blame game at first but I think this will be the discussion in the Red Bull team for the next few days.
Drivers reaction below.......
Car 6 MARK WEBBER, Finish Position: 3rd, Start Position: 1st
“Sebastian had a bit of a top speed advantage, he went down the inside and we were side by side. I was surprised when he came right suddenly, as I was holding my racing line. It happened very, very fast and it’s a shame for the team. Not an ideal day. The McLarens were solid and it was a good race between all four of us up at the front until then, neither of us wanted to make contact with each other. It’s obviously not ideal, but it happened. There was a long way to still go in the race, but that was an interesting few metres on the track between both of us. In the end it wasn’t the result that either of us wanted. We’ve got great character in our team and two fast drivers at the front – we’re not dicing for 15th and 16th – we’re going for victories so there’s clearly a lot at stake. I’ll have a chat with Sebastian about it, we might have a difference of opinion but we’ll be adults about it and press on.”
Car 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Finish Position: DNF Start Position: 3rd
“If you watch it on the TV, you can see what happened. I’m not in the happiest of moods. I was on the inside going into the corner. I was there, I was ahead and focusing on the braking point and then we touched. Mark’s car hit my rear right wheel and I went off – there’s not much more to say. We were all on the same pace during the race, I think I was a bit quicker than Mark for two or three laps, I was catching him and thought I could get him on the back straight. I was very close and passed him on the left, that’s the story. This is something that happens, no one needs it, but there’s not much you can do now.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal: “It’s disappointing for the team to have got into that position today. The one thing I always ask the drivers is that, yes, they can race each other, but give each other room, and that’s exactly what didn’t happen. They were too far over on the left, Sebastian got a run on the inside of Mark, but then came across too early. They didn’t give each other room; it’s as simple as that. It was a massively close race between us and the McLarens up until that point. We managed to get ourselves ahead with a better pit-stop and a better strategy for Sebastian and were first and second. Sebastian was a bit happier on the prime tyre than Mark and was looking quicker at that point in the race. He got a run on Mark up the inside and we saw what happened. It’s massively disappointing and the situation shouldn’t have occurred. To give McLaren 28 points on a plate is very frustrating for everyone in the team – especially after so much hard work. We’ve lost a lot of points today with what’s happened. We need to learn from it, so we don’t find ourselves in this position again.”
FABRICE LOM, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: “Today’s result is a big shame. We had a very good result in our hands, but unfortunately we didn’t cement it. But, if we want to keep the positive, we have to underline that both cars were trouble free mechanically today – the engines performed very well and we gave a very good defence on the long straight against the McLarens. We are still in a good position in both Championships, so let’s put this behind us and recover for the next race in Canada.”
RED BULL RACING’S PODCAST WILL BE LIVE LATER THIS WEEK AT http://www.redbullracing.com/
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