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Webber's track woes continue, Hamilton takes pole
Source: Agencies |
April 14, 2013, Sunday
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AS bad as things seemed for Mark Webber at the Malaysian Grand Prix, they took a sharp turn for the worse at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai yesterday.
The Red Bull driver was forced to start at the back of the grid in today's race after running out of fuel in qualifying.
Red Bull blamed a "fuel bowser problem" for failing to put enough in the tank for Webber to complete a timed lap in the second stage of qualifying and make it back to the pits, with the Australian marooned out on the track.
F1 rules dictate that any car which stops on track during qualifying must have at least a liter of fuel in its tank to provide a sample for stewards, but Webber had only 150 milliliters. That meant he was banished to last on the starting grid.
"We need a bit of luck now," the Australian driver said. "It's not the optimum starting position, but we still have to try to get something from there."
The bad luck, or bad management, compounded Webber's woes which began back in Malaysia when teammate Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders and passed the Australian to snatch the win. That prompted an extraordinary amount of vitriol to flow between the two feuding drivers, with Vettel accusing Webber of not being a team player and admitting his Malaysia actions were partly payback for the Australian's perceived failure to help him on past occasions.
The chances of a win, or a podium finish, appear very remote after yesterday's penalty, even allowing for Webber's past history of storming through the field at the China GP.
Two years ago, Webber started from 18th on the grid after another qualifying miscalculation. He produced a remarkable drive to finish third - a career highlight to rank almost alongside his wins at Monaco and Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton swept to his first pole position for Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen alongside for Lotus. In only his third race for the team he joined at the end of last season from McLaren, 2008 world champion Hamilton celebrated the 27th pole of his career at a circuit where he has twice won before.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will start third, ahead of Felipe Massa for the first time this season and denying the Brazilian the honor of being the first teammate to out-qualify the Spaniard five races in a row.
Massa will start fifth with Romain Grosjean sixth for Lotus.
Vettel will line up ninth after opting to start on the slower but longer-lasting medium tires rather than the new soft compound used by Hamilton.
The Red Bull driver was forced to start at the back of the grid in today's race after running out of fuel in qualifying.
Red Bull blamed a "fuel bowser problem" for failing to put enough in the tank for Webber to complete a timed lap in the second stage of qualifying and make it back to the pits, with the Australian marooned out on the track.
F1 rules dictate that any car which stops on track during qualifying must have at least a liter of fuel in its tank to provide a sample for stewards, but Webber had only 150 milliliters. That meant he was banished to last on the starting grid.
"We need a bit of luck now," the Australian driver said. "It's not the optimum starting position, but we still have to try to get something from there."
The bad luck, or bad management, compounded Webber's woes which began back in Malaysia when teammate Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders and passed the Australian to snatch the win. That prompted an extraordinary amount of vitriol to flow between the two feuding drivers, with Vettel accusing Webber of not being a team player and admitting his Malaysia actions were partly payback for the Australian's perceived failure to help him on past occasions.
The chances of a win, or a podium finish, appear very remote after yesterday's penalty, even allowing for Webber's past history of storming through the field at the China GP.
Two years ago, Webber started from 18th on the grid after another qualifying miscalculation. He produced a remarkable drive to finish third - a career highlight to rank almost alongside his wins at Monaco and Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton swept to his first pole position for Mercedes with Kimi Raikkonen alongside for Lotus. In only his third race for the team he joined at the end of last season from McLaren, 2008 world champion Hamilton celebrated the 27th pole of his career at a circuit where he has twice won before.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso will start third, ahead of Felipe Massa for the first time this season and denying the Brazilian the honor of being the first teammate to out-qualify the Spaniard five races in a row.
Massa will start fifth with Romain Grosjean sixth for Lotus.
Vettel will line up ninth after opting to start on the slower but longer-lasting medium tires rather than the new soft compound used by Hamilton.
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