Question: Is it hard to take for you given it was your team-mate who you think was responsible and cost you the win today?
Mark Webber: There was a long way to go in the race, so it wasn’t a guaranteed victory. I have still got a few points. But it was an interesting few metres on the track between the both of us and in the end it was not the result either of us would have wanted.
Question: Mark, lap 41. What happened?
Mark Webber: Seb had big top speed advantage and went down the inside and we went side-by-side and then it looked like he turned pretty quick right and we made contact. It happened very fast. It is definitely a shame for the team. Not an ideal day, but the McLarens were solid today. It was a good race between all four of us up until then and obviously neither of us wanted to make contact with each other but it can happen sometimes. Unfortunately when we are both at the front it is never ideal but it happened.
Question: Confident that the victory would have been yours given that you had kept the McLarens at bay for 40 of the laps and Sebastian behind you as well?
Mark Webber: Yeah. Yeah, I was, yes.
Question: Mark, tell us about the early stage of the race as you seemed to have a lot of pressure from behind at that stage?
Mark Webber: Yes, it was a very interesting first stint. I was pretty much expecting it to be honest. The first lap went to plan. In the first few laps a lot of us were getting an idea how turn eight was going to be. Lewis and I settled into a pretty good rhythm. Everything was going well in the first stint. It was clear that Lewis had a bit of an advantage on me. He was quicker in the first stint but I had track position. Then we made the stop and Seb went first, Lewis and I together. Both Lewis and I didn’t have the greatest of pit stops I don’t think. His was probably a bit worse than mine but mine wasn’t the cleanest. Then Jenson went a bit longer, so we had to protect that as well. Then we all came out with the exception that Seb had jumped Lewis. I wasn’t feeling as comfortable on the prime but comfortable enough to keep pressing along. Then Seb had a big top speed run on me on one of the laps. He was down the inside and we were going straight for turn 12. Then he came right pretty fast. We made contact. Not good for the team at all, but this happens. Over 19 races when you have got two guys fighting, it is always on the edge. Disappointing for us as a team. Obviously lost some points with the one car but I was happy I could continue, to be honest, and get some points. These guys did a good job.
Question: Is there any reason why he had a jump on you on that particular lap?
Mark Webber: Hmm. Maybe.
Question: Did you come out of the previous corner a bit slower on that lap?
Mark Webber: Hmm. You guys need to dig more, somewhere else.
Question: What do you think the reaction’s going to be back with the team?
Mark Webber: Oh, disappointment of course. We don’t come here to have contact with each other but it happened today and I felt reasonably comfortable with my side of things, I did my best today.
Question: Mark, you might not have seen it because you were busy driving but as Sebastian walked away from the car, on a couple of occasions, he gave the global sign for mental. Do you think you were in any way responsible for what happened?
Mark Webber: No.
Question: What do you think about his idea of the mental stuff?
Mark Webber: It’s when the adrenalin’s flowing.
Question: Was it entirely his fault then?
Mark Webber: Oh, if I wasn’t there, there wouldn’t have been contact obviously, but we were there together and it wasn’t the easiest thing to predict what he would do in that split second. Unfortunately there was contact.
Question: Was he just trying to make room for himself?
Mark Webber: Absolutely, yeah.
Question: But wrongly.
Mark Webber: Aah, pretty quick.
Question: Mark, you managed to keep the F-duct cars behind you for 40 laps. I know you told us we’ve got to dig a bit more but were you slower on that lap that Seb caught you, or not?
Mark Webber: I wasn’t too slow, no.
Question: Mark, when you saw Sebastian at your side and a little bit in front of you on the inside, what was your thinking? What did you think would happen?
Mark Webber: Umm. I obviously wasn’t totally happy with the situation because obviously he was coming down the inside, and I thought that at that stage I was pretty much not giving the lead up but it was pretty much his corner, well, not his corner but his situation because he was on the inside, but I just stayed on the inside, tight, to make sure that he was still staying on the dirty stuff and then on the run over the crest, obviously after the crest, he started to come back my way and that’s when we touched.
Question: Mark, given what happened, is there an argument for Red Bull having a policy of not racing after the first corner?
Mark Webber: I don’t think that would be great. Obviously for everyone, you guys, people watching, it sounds like the McLarens had a good scrap. When, week-in, week-out, you’ve got guys that are pretty even and there are different parts of the race where people are stronger and weaker, yeah, you can say ‘just hold formation to the end’. That would have probably been something which, in hindsight, with 20-20 vision, we would have both been up there, obviously, but in the end it didn’t turn out. If they wanted to swap the positions or there was a fight continuing and the way it turned out wasn’t great.
Question: Mark, when Sebastian appeared on the left hand side of you, did he first lose the car and then contact you or did you first have contact with the tyres and then you lost the car?
Mark Webber: Oh, he lost the car when he hit me.
Question: So before he hit you, he lost the car?
Mark Webber: No.
Question: It didn’t come out clearly when Sebastian was there. He said he lost the car because he was on the inside and then he hit you but did you see it?
Mark Webber: He was down the inside, I was going towards the corner in the middle of the track and then he came to the right and then obviously when we made contact he obviously had a puncture or something and he lost the car.
Question: Mark, did you know if Seb ignored an order to save fuel?
Mark Webber: No, wouldn’t have a clue, mate.
Question: Mark, what were your thoughts between getting back on the track and the finishing line? And have you thought of Japan 2007, behind the safety car and Lewis? There was something between Vettel and you behind the safety car in Japan.
Mark Webber: Ah, Fuji. Yeah, that was different, obviously. That was well-documented at the time. We crashed into each other. No, I didn’t think of Fuji at all. I was obviously thinking, during the last part of the race, how unfortunate it was that both of us made contact.
Question: Mark, was your strategy to keep Vettel inside, not to make him brake before and you keep your position, even if you brake late, he would go straight?
Mark Webber: It wasn’t my plan to get him on the inside but he got there and I thought OK, I would just stay in the middle, as straight as I can, to make his line as tight as possible into the next corner obviously. And once we got to the braking point, he was obviously in a very strong position, but before we got there he came across to the right and I couldn’t react fast enough, because I wasn’t at all expecting that at that point, and that’s why it happened so fast and there was contact. Of course in Seb’s car, it obviously feels very bad for him that I’ve turned left into him, but I’m pretty confident that there was some drift from his way and then it was a f*ing disaster. So you have the line.
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