Australian Formula One hope Mark Webber has not thrown in the towel and says that he can still win this year’s F1 World Championship.
The Red Bull Racing driver suffered just his second DNF for the season at Korea last weekend and lost the lead of the championship to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
In difficult weather conditions, Webber lost control of his Red Bull racer, glancing the fence before bouncing back into the path of Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg.
Alonso now leads the title by 11 points, while Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel is a further 14 points behind Webber after Vettel had an engine-related DNF while leading the race.
Red Bull Racing will now evaluate the possibility of enforcing team orders. In the past few rounds, Vettel has outqualified Webber, with the pair finishing first and second at the Japanese Grand Prix two weeks ago. Until Webber’s crash and Vettel’s engine blow-up, it looked like the pair were going to repeat the Japan result.
If Vettel won the remaining two races and Webber finished second, Alonso would still win the world title if he finished third.
Regardless, Webber is remaining positive and says that he will not lie down with a fight.
“It was a pretty extraordinary race and it’s closed things up at the top of the world championship,” he said.
“I absolutely believe that I can win the title. The RB6 is a great car and I’m going to relish these last two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. To be racing against guys of Fernando’s calibre is very rewarding and beating them is what sport at this level is all about.
“This was only my second non-finish of the year. Positions aren’t the most important thing, points are and they can change very quickly. I’m back with the others now on points, but there are still two races to go and I’ll do my absolute best.”
Webber admitted that the accident was 100 percent his fault.
“It was very disappointing not to finish the race,” Webber said.
“The track conditions were treacherous due to the rain and I crashed at the exit of Turn 12. I lost the rear of the car on a kerb; it was 100 percent my fault and that’s the end of it. The only thing to do now is move on to the next race.”
Webber says that he throughly enjoyed the new Korean International Circuit, saying it has its own character.
“It was an enjoyable track to drive,” says Mark.
“It had three very distinct sectors: long straights in Sector 1, some fast changes of direction in Sector 2 and some tighter corners in Sector 3. It was also a good technical challenge because we weren’t using maximum levels of downforce due to the long straights at the start of the lap.
“The organisers were also very accommodating. We suggested a couple of changes to the kerbs at the drivers’ briefing on Friday and the changes had been made by Saturday morning.”
The next round of the F1 World Championship will be held at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil on November 5-7. The title will be decided a week later at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
