Mark Webber Q&A: Spain victor fired up for Monaco 11 May 2010
Winning a race is one thing. Winning it unchallenged from pole to podium is another. On Sunday in Spain Mark Webber entered the illustrious club of men who’ve achieved it and he now heads to Monte Carlo on a high, ready to take on Formula One racing’s ultimate challenge.
With the lack of long straights rendering F-ducts all but redundant, the Australian is confident of another strong showing from Red Bull on the Monaco streets…
Q: Mark, after such a race you can only be all smiles…
Mark Webber: It was a very, very good Grand Prix, for sure. To stay in front in the first corner is absolutely crucial, we know that, because of the big head wind. This worked very well, as we knew that the Ferraris and McLarens with the F-duct would arrive at one stage, but both (Red Bull) cars managed to stay in front. In my case that was a big part of the race. Then I was very surprised by how early I was able to create a gap - even controlling the race a little bit, which was a really nice bonus. From there I could concentrate on the pit stop. Then I saw that Lewis (Hamilton) had changed position with Seb after his pit stop. I was not really sure what had happened there, only that I had to get accustomed to another opponent - as did Lewis. He was driving very well until he had his tyre failure.
Q: Lewis fell away from you slightly about halfway through the race. Did that affect you in any way?
MW: No, not at all. When I discovered that Lewis was behind me I thought, well, that’s going to be very interesting. Of course you always prefer to have you team mate behind you can control things much more easily, but it also worked perfectly for me this way.
Q: We saw Sebastian having some problems in the race. Would you say that reliability is still Red Bull’s Achilles’ heel for the championship?
MW: Well, we saw McLaren hit the wall in the race, we’ve seen Ferrari’s problems with some engines and some gearboxes, so each of the three front running teams has had its share of issues.
Q: So many times in Barcelona the polesitter has won the race. This time it was your turn…
MW: Indeed, it was very special day. A victory from pole to podium is always something exceptional. My first win ever was very rewarding because it took me quite some time, but this one - without sounding arrogant - almost dominating the race, that was it. Everything was very well executed by the team and I was able to push to the limit in certain parts of the race and could even look after the tyres and the engine. I would say that was a perfect day for me.
Q: Red Bull have dominated every race in terms of pace, but have missed out on wins due to issues with the car. Is this all over now - how do you see the rest of the season?
MW: I cannot answer that question as I am not able to look into the future. All I can say is that I had a perfect race - and that is all that matters at that very moment.
Q: Would you agree the F-duct will not be so important in Monaco this coming weekend?
MW: I agree, it will not be that important on that very special track.
Q: After the encouraging experience of the Spanish Grand Prix, what feelings do you take to Monaco?
MW: It has been said a thousand times before that in Monaco a good qualifying position is half the race. Our car should work very well there and I like to drive there, as it always shows a completely different facet of Formula One - the luxury version of a race weekend.
Q: Do you think that Red Bull can maintain their advantage there?
MW: Monaco for drivers is an extreme venue, not just the opposite of our normal race weekends, so let’s get there and see how car and driver performs.
Q: What is the secret to the RB6?
MW: The Red Bull team!
