Question: Mark, you were very angry yesterday after the team switched the front wings. After the race today you said on the radio race ‘not bad for a number two driver.’ Was today all about poetic justice?
Mark Webber: Maybe there is a bloke upstairs every now and again. I just did the best job I could do today and it worked out okay. Enjoyed the grand prix to be honest. It was a good fight with Lewis. People don’t really see how we are still having a bit of a fight even if it is against the pit board and just having a bit of a look how the gap is going to pan out. But it was enjoyable, particularly the first part of the grand prix. The pit stops as always are crucial to get right and the team did a great job there. Came back out and really just got my head down on the primes, the hard tyre. I knew I had a bit of a stint ahead, so just made sure they were comfortable for the whole stint. The safety car gave them a chance to recover a fraction but the car was faultless all day and a sensational result for the team.
Question: Mark, this weekend clearly demonstrated the superiority of the Red Bull package. But you are still behind in the championship, so what happens now in the second half of the championship?
Mark Webber: Well, we need to try and keep consolidating on weekends like this. The other car had a problem, so we lost some points with that situation. But we were very strong this weekend. That’s evident to the development that has gone on with the car. Everyone at Milton Keynes has done an incredible job. Thanks to the guys with the F-duct, they have pushed hard with that which is not an easy thing to get on top of but they are chipping away with that and lots of other small things. Like I said yesterday we climbed this tree and it is important to know how you get up there. You cannot just pick and choose what you might want to get in terms of development, so we know the car well and we have got to keep pushing on and I have got to keep getting results I can.
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Formula 1: Mark Webber Wins British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Formula 1: British Grand Prix - Race Results
Question: Mark, I get the impression that was one race you really wanted to win. Tell us about the satisfaction of doing so.
Mark Webber: Ann (Neal) said to me at the start of the year ‘if you don’t do anything else this year bloody win Monaco and the British Grand Prix,’ so I hope I can do some more victories as the season goes on. Very special victory for me. I have won here in Formula Ford, Formula 3000, sportscars and now Formula One, so it has been a very special track to me and to get the victory for me in Formula One in the company of these guys is something which will be a highlight. I think I heard over the loudspeaker something about Jack Brabham. I don’t know if he won here but it is a special venue to win. A lot of amazing grands prix have taken place here. It has the new lay-out and it was very, very special to win here in the UK. The team is down the road. A lot of English employees and it is a very special day for them to win here.
Question: Tell us about the grip off the track. Did you expect to get that much grip as you made a superb start?
Mark Webber: Yeah, I spoke to Flavio (Briatore) last night and he said ‘Mark, just make a good start,’ so that’s what I did and after that I was hoping it would be my day and it was.
Question: Were you surprised how much grip you got off there as that was the dirty side?
Mark Webber: It wasn’t that dirty in the end. A lot of support races this weekend which have helped. We have seen a lot of other grid spots this year, particularly here and maybe Valencia and Budapest coming up, probably Hockenheim. To be fair there is sometimes quite a big discrepancy from left to right on the grid but thank God we have had quite a few support races which helped. I think it was the procedure which helped me quite a lot.
Question: The car seemed to be absolutely flying. The amount of purple we saw on the screen. Occasionally eclipsed by Lewis but a lot of times fastest laps one after the other. I should think 50 per cent of the laps.
Mark Webber: Yes, when you are in front you need to control the race. It was at that point around about Lewis and I. I am not interested in anyone else in the field. I am just interested in watching the pit boards to Lewis. It is interesting that sometimes his pit board said a different thing to mine but only by a tenth. I am just watching both boards to make sure everything is right. Lewis drove a sensational race. We pushed each other as hard as we could. I think it is fair to say I had a better car here today, I used it to the maximum managed to pull away. We controlled it very well and took care of business.
Question: Mark, we obviously caught the comments over the radio at the end of the race. There’s clearly no love lost inside Red Bull at the moment. Do you honestly feel that you are the number two driver after what happened yesterday?
Mark Webber: Ah, yesterday I wasn’t happy, clearly. I’m sure we’ll have some pretty decent chats tomorrow. Today went well for me and, yeah, that’s it, mate.
Question: Mark, what about that with the wing? The wing that you ran today, was that the wing that was in dispute yesterday and should that sort of thing happen?
Mark Webber: No, I don’t think it should. Obviously I wasn’t massively in favour of the decision but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But once the car’s in parc ferme, obviously that’s the car you race with from qualifying, so I obviously raced today with the same car that I qualified which, it must be said, still it wasn’t too bad. But some of the drivers offered me some front wings from their cars on the (drivers’) parade lap but I said I would stick with what I’ve got. Seb didn’t but some of the other guys tried to offer me a front wing.
Question: Mark, fantastic win, thoroughly deserved. Given Red Bull have said that whoever leads the championship will have priority, will you get the better bits on the car in Hockenheim?
Mark Webber: Should do. I should do. Yesterday was a really unique situation. It was the first time that the team had really had one component. Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be going forward. That’s why I was disappointed yesterday and was honest with you guys. Let’s see how it goes in the future but I just keep doing what I do and hopefully it’s enough.
Question: Mark, you said there would be some discussions with the team; does that mean you will be demanding that should this situation arise again, you don’t get cast in the position where you’re the number two?
Mark Webber: Yup.
Question: Mark, how close was it with Sebastian from the start to the first corner, and secondly, how much of a concern was the restart when Lewis was right behind you?
Mark Webber: At the start? Plenty of room, you could drive a bus down the middle. With Lewis, yeah, safety cars are always a concern because it’s an opportunity for something else to happen. There was no real concern, but obviously I had a gap for a reason; that means because I was quick enough to get that gap. I had to start again. There was a little bit of a bonus, as I saw at Monaco, obviously you don’t then come across a lot of the backmarkers if you get a safety car in the middle of the race. You don’t come across as many backmarkers which as the leader is the benefit. Given today and Monaco, it actually sometimes works in your favour a bit. You don’t have to come across all that stuff at the back.
Question: Mark, Eddie Jordan just described this as poetic justice. Is that how it feels to you?
Mark Webber: An appointment with karma, is it? Yeah.
Question: Mark, when something happens like yesterday, are you the sort of guy who wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘I’ll show them’? Does that give you an extra edge when you go into that first corner?
Mark Webber: You know I’ve had a few hurdles in my career, even sometimes privately as well. Yeah, how you judge a person’s character is obviously how they come back in a bit of adversity. All drivers have some of that in certain parts of their career if they’ve been around for a while. I’ve obviously maybe had a bit more than others. It can work, but how long is a piece of string? You want to make sure it isn’t constantly happening… I mean the challenges, because otherwise it can sometimes test you a bit too much but if the balance is right, it certainly puts a bit of fuel on the fire.
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