Aussie Surfs To Second: Red Bull Quali Review
By Red Bull Racing
October 17 2009
Mark will start in second place tomorrow, behind pole-sitter Rubens Barrichello. Sebastian's afternoon was cut short after he failed to make it past Q1. Vettel will start in 16th place, one place behind the other Brawn, and current championship leader, Jenson Button.
Car 14, Mark Webber Position 2nd:
“That was a very tricky session - especially in Q1 when the conditions were really bad. The car was difficult to drive then, but we scraped through. After qualifying re-started, the track came back to us a bit and I was able to be more competitive. It wasn’t too comfortable at first out on track, but then the grip came and the times were quite good. In Q3 I kept switching between the top three, from pole to third to pole to third; I would have liked to have had another crack at being on pole, but I made a mistake. I think it wasn’t easy to knit six perfect laps together in those conditions, but I’m very happy with how I drove and the guys in the garage did a great job. Congratulations to Rubens for his pole here at home; we’ll give him a race tomorrow.”
Car 15, Sebastian Vettel Position 16th:
“I’m not happy, it’s very disappointing. It should have been better, but it was difficult in the conditions. There was a window when the circuit was at its fastest, but we couldn’t use it as we were in traffic. Afterwards, when we were in clear air towards the end of the session, it was raining hard and there was too much water, so it was impossible to improve the time. It’s not the best position to start from – we were targeting much higher, but that’s life and we have to accept it. There wasn’t really anything missing from our side today, it wasn’t about our pace, it was just a case of timing.”
Christian Horner:
“Firstly, it’s really frustrating for Sebastian to just miss out on Q2. Unfortunately, in the window when the circuit was at its best, traffic or other cars were making mistakes ahead of him, which cost him dearly and he wasn’t able to put a lap together at the optimum time. Later in Q1, the circuit was in an atrocious state and he just missed getting through to Q2. It’s frustrating as after the delay you could see how competitive the car was once some of the standing water had moved. Mark ran very competitively and missed out on pole by less than a tenth of a second. It was a strong performance by him and it’s going to make for a fascinating race tomorrow.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support:
“That was the longest qualifying session of my career – what a session! The first part was very disappointing with Sebastian not being able to make it into Q2. The second part was much better and Mark drove very well in the difficult conditions to secure second place. I have mixed feelings, it’s going to be very hard for both Championships now, but if it’s wet tomorrow anything can happen, so we will fight.”
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I was very surprised when he didn't come back around (although BBC had no idea) and in the end assumed they were just ahead of schedule and didn't have it planned.
I now read Mark @#$%& up his last lap. A huge mistake as the track was improving. He would have had pole by a couple of tenths I think.
Missed opportunity to cap the season with fastest lap, race win AND pole position. That may never happen again, devistated!
But hasn't he already had a pole position this year?
Also, give him a break he was less than a tenth of Rubens time and he had 6kgs more fuel than Rubens, he just had a little slide on his very last lap, very easy to do in those conditions!
Sorry Whitey, yes... I forgot Mark was on pole in Germany... The win took all my attention from it. That and his not leading into the first corner...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:10:18:04:20:02 by Duffer.
Maybe they did but they did not improve enough to beat Webbers previous lap time, it would have been nice if webber got pole, but it don't matter because i am very confident Webber will beat Rubens in the race!
Imagine this, Webber leads the race with a couple of laps to go Vettel is in third place button back in 9th.
Then Webber has a "surprise" pit stop. escelating Vettel to 2nd and only needing 10 points to win the championship....but then Barricello does a suprise pit stop escalating Button into the 7th sealing the championship.....
Will be a test for the boy. Has he had to overtake at all this year?
Then Webber has a "surprise" pit stop. escelating Vettel to 2nd and only needing 10 points to win the championship....but then Barricello does a suprise pit stop escalating Button into the 7th sealing the championship.....
I don't think team orders will come into play this year.
I reckon Horner wants the WCC more than a Vettel WDC,..the ultimate recognition for a team boss,..and the ultimate ammunition to silence some critics.
Will certainly be a test for young Seb. I fully expect him to be on the podium, or bin it trying.
www.racingbulls.net
Yeah lol...