Mark Webber is back to tell us all about the nice weather and the relaxed racegoers he expects to find at the European Grand Prix this weekend. He also manages to find the time to take us on a virtual tour of the Valencia track.
Tag: F1
Vodafone UK’s latest video promotion sees McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton build a Formula One car. Obvious pranks and comments are made; it’s still a bit of a giggle and shows, despite the common belief, the team at McLaren actually have a sense of humour.
Check the clip after the jump.
The 2010 Canadian Formula One Grand Prix saw a second consecutive one-two victory for the McLaren team. Lewis Hamilton started from pole and, despite a margin of just over two seconds from second placed Jenson Button, he won the race in reasonable comfort in the end. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though.
After qualifying on the soft “option” tyres it was expected Hamilton would come under pressure from the two Red Bull Racing cars, with both Webber and Vettel on the harder, more durable “prime” tyres. As it was Webber was penalised five grid places after having a gearbox change following qualifying.
But the real story of the race was the rate at which the tyres wore across the board. The prime tyres wore out quickly, as expected. However, the prime tyres also wore much quicker than predicted which meant most teams made two pitstops for a second set of prime tyres.
With no mechanical failures or accident carnage at the head of the field it was a reasonably close and exciting race. In the end, Hamilton won the day ahead of teammate Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton now leads the drivers standings on 109 points. Button is in second (106pts) and after relinquishing his title lead Mark Webber is close behind in third place (103pts). McLaren maintain their lead in the constructors race with 215 points ahead of Red Bull (193pts) and Ferrari (161pts).
Over 60 photos from Montreal are all yours after the jump and simply click on the pics you like to load a 2000px super image.
The Canadian Grand Prix—Mark thinks of a great atmosphere in the city, beautiful restaurants, and his teammate’s front-right wheel in his sidepod. Or something like that, anyway. Webber is back with his regular Grand Prix preview, this time at Montreal and with three overtaking opportunities per lap he will have to keep his wits about him. Although the early money is on a McLaren victory this weekend. Long straights and their effective F-duct system should give them an advantage.
Mark Webber has signed a one-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing that will see him stay with the team for the 2011 Formula One season.
According to Webber negotiations were well underway before the Turkish Grand Prix debacle, “It was an easy decision to remain with Red Bull Racing. We began talking very early this year and were in a position to sign by the Barcelona Grand Prix.
“The decision to extend for a further year was a mutual one; it’s widely known that I’m not interested in hanging around in Formula 1 just for the sake of it and at this stage of my career, I’m happy to take one year at a time.”
Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner has moved to end speculation over Mark Webber‘s future by claiming the Australian will remain with the team in 2011.
Webber is out of contract at the end of this year and rumours over his F1 future have been building. Horner, though, is expecting a fairly simple re-signing process, “When we sit down and talk about it, it will be straightforward. If it’s not broken why fix it? It’s clear where our and his intent is.
“It’s just a matter of sorting out the paperwork with his management. In the coming weeks that will be sorted”, he said.
One rumour doing the rounds late last year had Webber out for 2011 to be replaced by 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, who is currently busy avoiding trees in his Citröen that just happens to have Red Bull stickers all over it.
Again, Horner doesn’t see any reason for this to change, “Kimi has committed himself to rallying and seems to be enjoying that environment. So there’s never really been any discussion… We’ve been happy with the job Mark’s been doing so why would you change?”
[Source: BBC]
Mark Webber is back with his latest installment of Red Bull Racing simulator gigs. This time he’s at the anti-clockwise Istanbul circuit ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend. Of course, Australian fans will be hoping Webber can post his third successive Grand Prix victory. If he does, it will be a shame that nobody will be trackside to watch it.
No doubt Mark Webber is still beaming after his Monaco Grand Prix victory. A win in Monte Carlo is something all Formula One drivers cherish and to see an Australian dominate the race made for one very welcome procession.
Webber clearly places this win very highly, “It’s a special day, the greatest day of my life I suppose. As a Formula One driver you really hope that you win races and if you have a choice then the blue riband event is very, very special for any driver. To join Ayrton Senna and the likes round here is a very special thing.”
More quotes from Webber, as well as podium drivers Sebastien Vettel and Robert Kubica, can be read at Formula1.com.
The Aussie currently sits atop the World Championship leaderboard, thanks to two successive wins, but he’s not getting ahead of himself just yet, “To get 50 points from the last two races is awesome, but there is a long, long way still to go. We’ve got so many different conditions and tracks coming up – there are many exciting times to come; I’m looking forward to it.”
The one-two result now puts Red Bull Racing in the lead of the constructors’ title race, as well.Red Bull now has 156 points, 20 ahead of Ferrari and 27 clear of McLaren.
A gallery of Red Bull Racing photos can be seen after the jump. More pics from the other teams to follow.
UPDATE 18 May: Images from Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes GP, Force India, Lotus, Williams, Virgin Racing and Sauber now available below.
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Mark Webber wins Monaco GP
Mark Webber has driven a masterful race at Monaco to win his second Formula One Grand Prix in as many weekends. After clutching pole position at the death during qualifying he was able to keep his Red Bull machine out of trouble from the start and take the chequered flag unchallenged. This is the first Australian win at Monaco since Sir Jack Brabham’s 1959 breakthrough victory
Several Safety Car periods ensured Mark had to keep his wits about him, but after each green flag he was able to simply drive away with apparent ease. In fact the race almost finished behind the safety car after an incident between Jarno Trulli and Karun Chandok. The tangled mess happened right in front of Webber. The Australian kept his cool and was able to avoid the incident and maintain his lead.
As it was the Safety Car pulled in at the last corner to allow Webber to cross the line at full noise to claim his fourth career victory. Amazingly, Webber now leads the World Championship. Sebastien Vettel finished the race second and joins Webber on 78 points. However, Webber is classified as Championship leader on account of winning two races to Vettel’s one. Pleasingly for Red Bull they are turning their qualifying dominance into race wins.
Robert Kubica finished third in a great result for Renault. Of course, the Red Bull RB6 is powered by Renault engines, thus giving the French company a clean sweep of the podium.
Speaking after the race Webber with a beaming smile declared it was “the greatest day of my life today.” The significance of a Monaco Grand Prix victory on his CV was not lost on Mark who said, “it was a very, very rewarding win, and (I’m) just absolutely elated. To join Aytron Senna and those guys around here, it’s real blue riband event.”
In further good news for Australian motorsport young gun, and Red Bull test driver, Daniel Ricciardo won the Formula Renault 3.5 race at Monaco earlier today.
[Pics: via OneHD]
The latest in the Red Bull Racing simulator series sees Mark Webber enjoying the sights of the French Riviera ahead of this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. When in Monte Carlo Mark is impressed by all the big boats, apparently. Here’s to Webber finishing at the head of the field once again—an Aussie win on the famous Monte Carlo streets would be epic!
Still got a big grin on your face after Mark Webber’s win last night? I know I do. These pics will help relive the moment. It’s great to see an Aussie dominate the F1 field like Webber did in Barcelona. Hopefully it won’t be too long until we see fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo join Webber on the grid, too.
A gallery of 55 images from Red Bull Racing is available below.
UPDATE 11 May: Over 40 new images from Ferrari, Force India, McLaren, Mercedes GP, Renault and Williams have now been added.
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Mark Webber wins Spanish GP
Mark Webber has capped off a totally dominant weekend in the most perfect way by winning the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix in Barcelona. The Australian posted the quickest times in all three qualifying sessions yesterday to claim pole position and he had no equal during today’s race, leading from start to finish.
Webber set numerous fastest laps during the Grand Prix and won by 24 seconds over Fernando Alonso. Webber’s Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastien Vettel suffered braking issues late in the race and was forced to drive conservatively to nurse his car across the finish line. Vettel managed to hold on for third place more than 50 seconds behind Webber.
There was drama late in the race when second placed Lewis Hamilton suffered a left front puncture with less than two laps to go. On the previous lap Hamilton had set the fastest time for the race (1:24.357), but the incident forced him off the track and into a tyre barrier. The parochial Spanish crowd cheered mightily as Alonso inherited his former teammate’s second place position.
Speaking after the race Webber acknowledged the efforts of his team, “The team have just been incredible the week. Collectively, Renault and Red Bull, everyone just put a huge effort in—the driver did a little bit of his work as well—in the end it was a fantastic result and I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Webber’s third career GP victory and his first for 2010 moves him into fourth place in the title race. He now has 53 points, 17 behind current leader and defending champion Jenson Button.
The F1 circus back up immediately for next weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix and if Webber and Red Bull can continue their qualifying supremacy they should be well placed to register consecutive Grand Prix victories.
Stay tuned for a picture gallery of the Spanish Grand Prix to be added in the next 24 hours.