Mark Webber laments mediocre start at Korea

Although Mark Webber started the Korean Grand Prix from pole position, the Australian driver endured yet another frustratingly slow getaway off of the line. This saw team-mate Sebastian Vettel storm up the inside in the lead at turn one, and set the tone for another Vettel-dominated 55-lap race.

Down the tremendously long straight after turn two, Mark Webber immediately piled pressure on Sebastian Vettel. After slipstreaming the German driver, Webber was able to draw his Red Bull alongside his team-mate into turn three, but to no avail. Sebastian Vettel remained in the lead, and proceeded to lead every lap of race once again in dominant style. Although Mark Webber was disappointed with his own performance at the start, which has basically seen his Championship challenge come to an end, the 36-year-old was happy with the overall result for his team.

“The start wasn’t sensational.” Admitted Mark Webber, after his third podium finish of the season. “I’ll have to look into it but yeah, probably the initial getaway wasn’t too great. It’s not the best corner to lead off so I thought, ok, we won’t risk too much in the first corner, and then we got a good slipstream off Sebastian but it was just neck-and-neck for us along the back straight. After that I just tried to hang in there as best I could. Of course I’m disappointed but I’m happy to get a good result in the other side as well.”

The main reason behind Mark Webber’s poor start was mainly due to clutch issues, which started as early as the formation lap. This saw the Australian driver suffer from lots of wheel-spin once the five red lights went out, allowing Sebastian Vettel to benefit greatly and storm into the lead despite starting from the dirtier side of the grid.

“I think we were chasing the clutch quite a bit after the first launch on the formation lap, and also coming to the back of the grid the boys were asking me to move the clutch ring quite a bit so the initial launch wasn’t good.” Continued Mark Webber, who lost the lead at turn one. “The first bite just kicked to wheel spin and from then on I knew I could have some issues. It was just a very... mediocre let’s say... run to the first corner. Seb got a good one. All wasn’t lost, obviously, second corner, getting the slipstream on the back straight I thought it was still possible to do something there.”

Ultimately Mark Webber was unable to retake the lead into turn three, after Sebastian Vettel defended well against his team-mate’s onslaught. From there on, it was a simple case of hanging on for 2nd, dealing with tyre management and keeping the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa at bay. Mark Webber currently sits 5th in the Drivers’ Championship, with 152 points scored and only one point behind the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton.

However, Mark Webber has admitted that his chances of clinching the Drivers’ Championship are now very slim indeed, with the Australian driver requiring some bizarre results in the remaining four races. Regardless of this fact, Mark Webber still remains hopeful of picking up another victory before the season comes to a conclusion.

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