Did "The Wrong Man" Win?
- Published on May 10th, 2010 by Jack LamureFollowing yesterday's Spanish Grand Prix BBC F1 pundit Eddie Jordan- ever the cheeky chappy- posed Red Bull boss Christian Horner with a question: "surely, in terms of your aspirations of winning the championship, the wrong man won?"
It's typical of Eddie to ask a question like this, one that he must know will never get a straight answer. Does he expect Horner to reply with "well yes Eddie, Mark's good on his day but ultimately Sebastian's our golden boy and, honestly, we wish it was him on the top step"? Never going to happen. Horner gave a typically rehearsed answer about both drivers having equal status and how pleased he was to have two title challengers in the team.
But Eddie might have a point- victory for Webber may well not be what the Red Bull hierarchy want. The general view in F1 is that whilst Webber is a very talented driver, brilliant on his day, he can't sustain a world championship push in the way Vettel can. And, in a world championship that looks as close as this one currently does, having Webber start on pole and dominate might not be what the team need. So the question is really this: can Mark Webber emerge as a genuine title contender in 2010?
© Sutton/Autosport
If the Spanish weekend is anything to go by he certainly can. He beat his teammate to pole and then utterly dominated the race, never facing a challenge on the track and ultimately taking a very comfortable victory.
But world titles are won on consistency, and Mark really needs start delivering on a more frequent basis. Last year he seemed to be sneaking in to the championship battle, taking four straight podiums- including his brilliant maiden win at the Nurburgring- whilst title leader Jenson Button faltered. Then the wheels came off. At both Valencia and Spa he qualified and finished 9th; Monza saw him down in 10th on the grid and eliminated by a first lap collision; brake issues forced him out in Singapore and a nightmare Japanese Grand Prix saw him fail to set a time in qualifying and finish the race last. By the time he got to Brazil- a race he won- the championship was already gone.
He's already had a few bad results in 2010. His victory yesterday and a 2nd place in Malaysia are somewhat marred by 8th in both Bahrain and China and a 9th place finish in Australia, a race where a rash overtaking attempt saw him slam in to the back of Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps.
And this brings up another issue: Mark sometimes seems to be a victim of the red mist when things go wrong. Despite his experience he can get flustered and try a move that just isn't possible, typically ending in tears and shards of carbon fibre. This isn't a problem when you take pole and can scamper away from the front, but when he's down the grid- as he's bound to be at some point this year- it can affect him. Vettel doesn't seem to suffer from this. He's far cooler, far less emotional, in the heat of battle.
© Sutton/Autosport
And it's that cool, calm teammate of his who Webber has to beat- and beat consistently- to have a shot at the championship. Post-Spain Webber is just 7 points shy of Vettel, though that's a bit flattering on the Aussie, who's suffered less from reliability issues. Last season Vettel trounced Webber in qualifying, beating him 14 times in 17 races, and though Webber actually finished higher in the grand prix more often it was Sebastian who scored the most points. 2009 was Vettel's year.
But this is 2010, a new season, and Webber, now closer to full fitness following last season's bicycle accident blues, is raring to go. Qualifying is currently 3-2 to Vettel, suggesting things are closer, and yesterday showed that Sebastien is by no means the only Red Bull driver capable of dominating a race.
One thing does seem certain: this is Webber's best shot at the title. The RB6 is the class of the field, there's no doubt of that, and it'd be huge surprise to see anyone close the nearly one second a lap advantage they have in qualifying any time soon. Red Bull can- and should- continue to dominate on most tracks, and so long as the reliability issues are ironed out their drivers should be able to take the lead of the world championship.
If that does happen we could be set for a battle between the two Red Bulls for this year's world championship, a straight inter-team fight to determine who is the quickest, most complete driver. In that event Webber- whilst not the favourite- would be in with a shout.
But, if the other teams make up the ground you have to wonder whether Webber can do it, and whether it might be better for Vettel to be taking home the bulk of the points. In a more even, combative title battle it's the young German you'd have to put your money on.
© Sutton/Autosport
Did the wrong man win yesterday? Absolutely not- Webber was peerless on the Circuit de Catalunya- but that isn't what Jordan was getting at. His question meant could that same man launch a serious world title bid? Maybe- but he'll need the chips to fall just right for him if he is to do so. Vettel on the other hand will be there regardless.
Is Mark Webber capable of winning the world championship? Would Red Bull have been happier with a Vettel win yesterday? Go on, tell us what you think.
Comments and Discussion
Most of this is related to the notion that Vettel is an absolutely superb driver.
Good though he is, has he ever put in a Hamilton style drive? He's usually in the right place at the right time, but how much do we know of him as a racer?
I see your point, he's not had that many drives through the pack. In fact he's only ever won off the front row.
But I think Monza 2008 proved that he is a superb driver, and he was pretty handy in Brazil last season, going from 16th to 4th. Being in the right place at the right time translates to being on pole, something he's done a lot. You can't really blame him for that.
He won in Malaysia, not from the front row (ok, almost). Brazil 09 was also pretty good. As you said, can't really blame him for being a great qualifier! He hasn't needed many recovery runs, and when he needs to make places up he's usually 4th-5th where cars are a lot more competitive than down the field!
The right man may have won the race, but the other man won third place in a car that shouldn't have made it to the finish.
That's the difference and that's why Vettel will come out on top in the end I reckon.
You've got to be kidding, right?
"And this brings up another issue: Mark sometimes seems to be a victim of the red mist when things go wrong."
Yeah, and Vettel's never done that ever, has he? Melbourne 2009? Monaco 2009 (hell, he did that on his own!)? Fuji 2007?
Webber is more than capable of winning the world championship, and I'd love to see him do it, not just because it would be a just reward after all his years of heartbreak, but because it would be the most galactic up-yours ever to idiots like you.
(edited)
I would be thrilled to see Webber win the title, I think it would be a great story. However it wouldn't serve as an up-yours, galactic or otherwise, to myself. I've not said he can't or wont win the title, just that Vettel is considered the more likely of the pair. It's hardly an original perspective.
Wow, someone's got a soft spot for Webber!
You've mentioned 3 races where Vettel got a bit flustered and got it wrong. For me, Monaco is the only real example of this here. Fuji was a rookie mistake and it's a bit harsh to judge him on that when you compare him to someone with years of experience; also, I thought Hamilton was to blame for that, no?
Melbourne 09 was a racing incident and quite a bad decision by the stewards in my opinion. If he hadn't apologised after the race, I don't think he would have got the penalty.
In any case, I'm a big Webber fan too (and got some angry looks by Germans when I was celebrating his win at the Nurburgring last year!) but I think Vettel is more talented.
I think Mark's progress this year puts him in good stead! Compare it to last year where Sebastian made some stupid errors in the first few races topped off with some brilliant results, and on that basis Webber's on course for at least 2nd in the championship!
The other thing in that Australian's favour is his curse of all the bad luck seems to have left him. In fact he's found a way of ditching it on his younger team mate. Mark has his off-days, but when he's on it, his car doesn't stab him in the back anymore (touchwood).
But it's worth remembering that Webber is one of a handful of drivers on the grid who didn't win any championship on their way to F1. He's fought for them of course, but he's never overcome the challenges and been the victor in the end. This will always count against him when it comes down to the crucial part of a season. And personally i wouldn't put my money on him for this reason.
However he does make the perfect number 2 driver because of his pace, and teaming him up with Alonso at Ferrari, though slightly strange at first glance actually makes a whole lot of sense. To be sure you're getting the most out of your number 1 driver, you've got to have a brilliant number 2.
I had thought about Webber not winning a title, and it does make you wonder whether he's up to it. But, I'd also bare in mind that he was never very well funded as a youngster. Perhaps he should have won Formula 3000 in 2001, but Justin Wilson was just too good that year.
As for Webber to Ferrari that's one I've heard during this early phase of the silly season. If they want an uncomplicated, experienced and very quick driver to join Alonso Ferrari probably couldn't do better than Mark.
mark has the edge for me simply because he isn't as hard on his car
when vettel suffered pluggate he wasn't going to win , he was going to have to stop for tyres if he continued at full pace
Got to agree with the first comment.
For me Vettel is a product of corporate motorsport, steady and safe, don't take risks whereas Mark is much more of an old school racer, plus he has a personality!
Webber is the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. If he was British or German, he would have been courted by all manner of sponsors in his formative years, fast tracked into a competitive team in F1 and cosseted and nursed through any early hiccups. Advantages that Vettel, Hamilton, Button etc. have all enjoyed. Mark did it the really hard way with no friends or sugar daddies.
Last year Mark was driving with a horrifically broken leg from the start of the season. Prior to that, he hasn't had a seat in anything approaching competitive machinery.
But none of that matters now. Vettel, like Hamilton and Button before him, don't know how to do things the hard way. Mark has fought his way to where he is now, with no inside track, with the typical grit shown by Aussies in just about any other sporting field.
Vettel will fade under the pressure of the second half of the season - it is a world he doesn't know (did you see the look on his face over most of the Cataluna weekend? It was a look of backward looking despondent defeat, not forward looking determination). Mark will absolutely thrive on the challenge.
Two things that require correction:
"Prior to that, he hasn’t had a seat in anything approaching competitive machinery."
Not true; the 2005 Williams was a front-running car, about equal to the Mercedes in today's lineup.
Secondly Vettel didn't fade last year when he was locked in a championship head to head, so i dunno where you got the idea from that he will.
They're racing drivers, they hate to lose especially when it's not their fault . SV's been let down by the car 3 times now this season, i'd be pretty PO'ed too!
One man's "let down" is another mans "broke".
And with this comment, you lose all credibliity
"the 2005 Williams was a front-running car, about equal to the Mercedes in today’s lineup."
The FW27 was a mid field runner. BMW wwere carping about Williams, while Williams were carpong about BMW. The whole package was never even a prospect for a race win, let alone championship potential.
You did read the Mercedes comment, even quoted it, so how have you managed to misunderstand the message of it? Potentially race-winning but missing a vital element that made it so.
Cars break, if you want to blame failures on the driver then perhaps you should consider that on this basis Mark broke his 2006 Williams on 6 occassions, not to mention the 5 crashes he was involved in on top of that.
You didn't have any credibility with me to begin with so i can't say that you lost yours.
I have nothing against Mark, nor against any of the others who aren't called Schumacher, but there are facts then there are opinions, try to learn the difference.