In the Le Mans 24 Hours, the trio qualified fourth but an engine problem prevented a podium finish. They scored three podiums, one pole position and finished ninth in the drivers' championship. Yet in their first year together Webber and his crew raced very hard. It was a good thing in endurance racing to have stability in the driver line-up, because the competition in WEC's LMP1 class was pretty tough.īack then any of the three big manufacturers in the top class could win a race: Toyota, Audi & Porsche. Webber would be teammates with the same drivers for three years in WEC: Brendon Hartley and Timo Bernhard. #20 Porsche 919 Hybrid: Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber Here we look at how things panned out for the Australian after F1. Webber had experience in sportscars from before he raced in F1, and the growth of manufacturer interest in WEC made it an attractive place for top-line drivers. Vettel has been linked with Mercedes, yet while motorsport boss Toto Wolff has not ruled out the 32-year-old from a seat alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2021, few believe such a move will happen.On the one hand it had been a surprise that he was leaving Red Bull, the team with which had almost won the title with in 2010, but the choice of going to WEC was not such a shock. “And you have to work out Monday to Friday how to keep the batteries topped up, too, and Maranello certainly hasn’t helped Vettel’s batteries.” But anyway, he might have a year off, who knows? I think he doesn’t feel he can get out of bed with a spring in his step driving for a red car any more and obviously as an athlete that’s a problem.”Īssessing the work required to continue competing at the highest level, Webber added: “With an athlete, it’s up to them, and longevity is a key component. Maybe he knows more about the car than we do. “But he’s had a good run at it, a hard run at it, but I think he’s just worn down. You can see he doesn’t look his age right now, I’ve told him that several times. So that marriage I just think really wore him out. So I think his confidence has been very much rattled with the lack of penetration that he was able to have with the Italian culture. “As we all know in Formula 1 there are always two cars in a team,” said Webber, speaking on the ‘At The Controls’ podcast – “Yes, Sebastian has sort of done his best with what he could to set the team up and have it in a position to win a world championship in the last few years – hasn’t happened. Webber was typically candid in his view that Vettel’s relationship with Ferrari had had a detrimental effect on the German driver. Seven years later, Sebastian Vettel may be on the brink of following Webber out of the sport as he and Ferrari have opted to part ways at the end of this season, ending what will be a six-year association. Webber and Vettel spent five seasons together at Red Bull, with their relationship ultimately fracturing towards the end, leading to the Australian quitting F1 at the end of 2013. Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel has been worn out by his “marriage” with the Italian side and is the reason why he is leaving the Formula 1 team at the end of this year, according to former team-mate Mark Webber.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |