Mark Webber hit with KERS issues throughout Indian Grand Prix

Mark Webber suffered a tough Indian Grand Prix, after his Red Bull RB8 was struck with ongoing KERS issues throughout the duration of the 60-lap race. Despite struggling, more so towards the end of the race, the Australian driver was able to miraculously hold onto 3rd place ahead of the charging Lewis Hamilton.

After a decent start to the race, Mark Webber once again fell into a competitive rhythm behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who was quick to open a gap in the lead. However, roughly 19 laps into the race and Mark Webber began to suffer with his KERS device, which began to work intermittently on his car. This ultimately saw the Australian driver begin to fall into the clutches of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who eventually made an overtaking maneuver stick for 2nd position.

“We had a KERS issue that we had to manage.” Confirmed Mark Webber after the race, “It’s maybe hard for people watching to know what it affects on the car, its power on the straight obviously, but also managing brake balances and those sort of things. The guys were trying to help me get the KERS to recover and were talking with me on the radio. Overall, I was pretty happy with how I drove; we should have finished further up the road, but it’s the way it was today.”

As the race entered its closing stages, Lewis Hamilton began to reel in the Red Bull of Mark Webber at a tremendous pace. This forced Webber to defend extensively in the final few laps, however a slight mistake by the charging McLaren of Hamilton during the final laps enabled the Australian driver to retain his 3rd place. With no KERS on his car, Webber was most certainly vulnerable down the long straight, however Hamilton was unable capitalize on his speed advantage.

“I think I was very lucky that Lewis made a mistake in Turn Three, I think on lap 57. I saw it in the mirrors, it was either [lap] 57 or 58.” Explained Mark Webber, “And that was important because I think he was starting to get a bit of momentum and I was very keen to keep him off the DRS as long as possible because once he got that I was toast. I think another two laps and he would have got me.”

Despite a tough race for the Australian driver, this result has seen Mark Webber move ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship, with the two now separated by only two points in 4th and 5th in the Drivers’ Championship. Lewis Hamilton was only one point ahead of the the Red Bull driver heading into the weekend, but his inability to overtake him in the closing stages has seen him slip further down the Championship order.

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