Webber: I couldn’t let Seb take the triple crown

Negative Camber

Oct 11, 2010

There’s a little bit of buzz after the Japanese Grand Prix about Mark Webber pulling the fastest lap out of his RBR and denying pole, the win and the quickest lap to team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Well, make no mistake, that was the idea.

In the review of the race on his official website, Webber is straight-forward about his dash to be fastest: “I couldn’t let Seb take the triple crown, could I?”

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F1 Grand Prix of Brazil - Final Practice

The quotation is even highlighted a bit. Here’s the full context:

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For the remainder of the race, Mark and Sebastian were never more than a couple of seconds apart and they traded fastest laps – a battle that Mark won on the final lap (“I couldn’t let Seb take the triple crown, could I?”). In the closing laps they were able to wind down their engines, but both drivers had to keep pushing to remain clear of Alonso.
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I wonder how Seb will feel about that.

While we’re at his site, here’s the rest of the quotes from Webber:

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“It was a good day at the office,” says Mark. “You always want to win, but second was okay. The difference between Seb and I this weekend was the half-tenth that separated us in qualifying; that gave him track position at the start of the race, on a circuit where it’s very difficult to overtake.
“I completed one installation lap on Saturday,” says Mark. “It was immediately apparent that the track conditions were too treacherous for F1 cars. To do nothing for a whole day of a grand prix weekend felt a bit odd; it reminded me of testing in the early ’00s and it made me quite glad that we’re no longer allowed to test during the season!”
“Robert made an absolute scorcher of a start,” says Mark. “He cannoned out of the blocks and was through. Luckily he retired a few laps later, while we were behind the Safety Car. His Renault was very quick in a straight-line and it would have been difficult to pass him on the track.”
“Fernando got a bit closer in the last few laps,” says Mark, “but I had him covered. To be honest, it was a formation finish for Red Bull Racing from about lap nine. We pushed all the way, but Seb and I were so evenly matched that I needed him to make a mistake in order to pass. He didn’t give me that opportunity.”
“The RB6 is the best racing car I’ve ever driven,” says Mark. “It was nice to celebrate Red Bull’s third one-two of the season with Adrian. I hope he felt the trip here was worthwhile!”
“It’s always fun to go to a new track,” says Mark. “It’s something different for everyone, but don’t expect its newness to shake up the order. The drivers in F1 are all very good and it will take only a few laps to learn.”
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That last bit is one time when Mark’s no BS attitude actually works against fans. It would be a lot more exciting if we could be made to believe that Korea might throw something unusual our way.