29 August,2011 09:31 AM IST | | AFP
Webber, who finished second to Vettel, hails Red Bull's one-two finish at Spa
Mark Webber hailed his Red Bull team's one-two finish in yesterday's Belgian Grand Prix as their "best ever" result. The Australian said this was particularly the case because of their worries over tyre blistering and serious concerns about safety.
Crash-boom-bang! This series of pictures show McLaren
Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton crashing during the
13th lap of the Belgian GP yesterday. The Briton was involved
in a controversial collision with Japanese Kamui Kobayashi of
Sauber. Pics/AFP
Technical director Adrian Newey said he had been extremely concerned about the tyres and was more relieved than joyful at the finish because his main fear was that both drivers may not finish the race.
Webber said: "The team result today was probably one of our best results ever as a teamu00a0-- it was stressful last night, and a stressful morning, but handled very well -- putting drivers right in the discussions to understand how we can get through the Grand Prix as safely as possible, us giving them feedback on how tyres looked."
Vettel (left) and Webber
Webber came home 3.7sec behind defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany. Briton Jenson Button claiming a well-judged third for McLaren after an even more topsy-turvy race. Two times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso finished fourth for Ferrari ahead of German Michael Schumacher.
Leading teams had asked if they could be given dispensation to take on fresh Pirellis for the first stint following blistering problems in qualifying, but the request was denied as the officials felt the high wear was due to set-up choices rather than an inherent tyre issue.
Red Bull was one of those worst affected by the situation, with both its cars pitting within the first four laps of the race, but Vettel and Webber still had the pace to come back through to first and second. Webber's strategy went awry in the race, as communications issues meant he stayed out much longer than intended on his second set of tyres.
"I was supposed to pit when Seb did, but had a completely blocked radio. I asked if I was wanted to stop, but heard nothing." Meanwhile, race leader Vettel extended his already yawning lead in this year's drivers' world championship yesterday when he drove to a well-judged if, at times, fortunate victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Vettel now has 259 points and leads second placed Webber on 167 and Alonso on 157. Button is fourth with 149 and Hamilton fifth on 146. Vettel reflected: "We had a lot of concerns going into the race after qualifying and weren't quite sure about the tyres blistering.
"The team took the risk and we had reason to be confident, but you never know until you get out there. We both stopped early on so the main target was to see how the tyres were over the first few laps. "Then the pace was steady and I was feeling comfortable and got back into the lead so, after the safety car, it was key to get past Alonso and get a gap to make it more comfortable. "It was certainly more tyre management than usual for me."
