Webber’s Red Bull future to be decided “on results”

F1 Fanatic round-up

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In the round-up: Mark Webber says his future with Red Bull Racing will be determined by how he performs for the remainder of the season.

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Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:

Webber says he is unlikely to look beyond RBR for 2013 if results stay good (Autosport)

"The situation depends on the results I get this year. They’ve been very inconsistent this year. Up to the Monaco GP I hadn’t even been on the podium, then I won. But qualifying has so far gone very well for me. As far as I’m concerned, I’m driving very well, and I see no difference with last year’s situation."

Mallya: Force India must raise game soon (Formula1.com)

Vijay Mallya: "Formula One is hard to predict at the moment. It’s seriously competitive with seven different winners in seven races, all of which is great for the sport. But while it’s hard to predict, we still need to lift our game, especially if we want to target fifth or sixth in the constructors’ championship. Yes, we’ve had one of our best starts to a season ever in terms of points scored, but the teams around us have also performed exceptionally well."

Teams Could Fold If Costs Not Reduced – Todt (SPEED)

Jean Todt: "For me, Formula One is too expensive. If we do nothing, we could get into a situation where we have less than twelve teams on the grid."

Caterham eye Q2 with upgraded car (Sky)

Technical director Mark Smith: "We have a couple of quite significant updates coming in Valencia and Silverstone – we will take a look at a number of new aerodynamic elements in Valencia as well as some minor modifications to the floor, and even though we will not know exactly what they will give us until we get out on track, we are cautiously optimistic they will help us keep edging ever closer to the midfield."

Lotus and Sauber to spring a surprise in Valencia? (JAonF1)

"This year’s race at Valencia will again hinge on race strategy, as this is a particularly hard track on which to overtake. Last year the top three finishers all used a three stop strategy, with used Soft tyres for the first three stints and new Medium tyres for the final stint. This year with the gap in performance between the two tyre compounds likely to be smaller, we should see more variety than that."

Red Bull Racing’s ‘Faces for Charity’ raises ??1 million (Autosport)

"Red Bull Racing’s ‘Faces for Charity’ initiative that it is running at the British Grand Prix has raised an impressive ??1 million. The Milton Keynes-based outfit offered fans the chance to upload pictures of their faces, which will then be painted on to the side of the cars driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at Silverstone."

Tyred of all the criticism (ESPN)

Peter Windsor: "As it happens, Pirelli have an impeccable record so far in terms of real tyre ‘problems.’ They have produced a range of compounds in concert with an F1 market survey that demanded “more overtaking” and “closer racing”. They have tried to be innovative when it comes to colours and graphics. They have provided more running data than any tyre company in the history of the sport. They have shrugged away unfounded criticism without rising to the bait."

F1’s greatest drivers – Number 13: Nigel Mansell (BBC)

"Formula 1 commentary legend Murray Walker looks at the career of 1992 world champion, and his great friend, Nigel Mansell, who has been voted number 13 in BBC Sport’s greatest driver series." (Video. UK users only)

Mika Salo via Twitter

"On my way to Valencia,different kind of job this weekend. Steward in F1 race,should be interesting."

Ross Brawn exclusive Q&A (Mercedes GP via YouTube)

"We caught up with Ross ahead of the European Grand Prix to talk about the 2012 season so far, the team’s performance and recent reliability issues…

Comment of the day


Lin1876
is pleased to hear of the healthy demand for tickets for November’s United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.

Really good to see the US GP seeing strong sales. I’m always reminded of the message that F1 needs an American round if it’s to be a global sport, so it’s good to see it go back there on a circuit built specifically for this type of racing, much like Watkins Glen was when it maintained a strong following.

The acid test is yet to come, though, as year two will truly test how popular the sport is. That especially true considering that the grand prix in New Jersey is set to go ahead then. With the prospect of trying to attract fans deep into NASCAR country, it’ll be interesting to see how the organisers fare.
Lin1876

From the forum

Debating the BBC’s Top 20 F1 drivers ever countdown.

Users affected by the Simply The Ticket situation are telling their stories here too.

Site updates

You will all be pleased to know that Keith will resume writing the round-ups from this evening onwards.

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On this day in F1

Five years ago today the full scale of Robert Kubica’s crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix became known.

Kubica survived a head-on impact with the wall at 230kph which produced a peak force of 75G. He missed the following race in Indianapolis, allowing Sebastian Vettel to make his F1 debut in his place.

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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57 comments on “Webber’s Red Bull future to be decided “on results””

  1. Did I miss the winner of the caption competition a few days ago?

    1. Looks like they all lost.

      1. Aditya Banerjee (@)
        20th June 2012, 15:55

        +1

    2. Not sure its been called yet @matt90

  2. Caterham are certainly the best of the three 2010 teams. But constantly promising 50 points or Q2 or whatever, then failing to deliver makes them look worse than they are.

    1. I really liked the way that LotusRacing/TeamLotus/Caterham came into F1 with a bit of personality.

      But… they’ve got the back end of the Red Bull on that car – Renault engine, RBR Kers/gearbox – and they’re still not in the midfield. Close, yes, and Heikki’s doing his best, but clearly the car is just not good enough. At a time when the running order in races is being mixed up so much by tyres and other events that Maldonado won a race and almost anyone could lead a race at some point, they’re not even ‘in the mix’.

      When are they going to start delivering?

  3. I enjoyed the interview with Ross Brawn. So smart, and very eloquent. While these qualities aren’t in short supply amongst the top brass in F1, Mr. Brawn, in my book, is at the top of the heap!

    1. Completely agree with you – he’s a real role model.

      I’d probably get quite infuriated with his slow speaking in person tho!

  4. Jean Todt is worried about not having 12 teams in F1, I for one would rather see races between 6 top teams using varied design solutions to achieve results than watch a dozen teams race mundane technically identical cars. F1 has produced exciting and technically interesting racing in the past with less than a dozen teams, it could do so again, if allowed.

    1. Aditya Banerjee (@)
      20th June 2012, 15:58

      Yeah, but 6 teams is surely too little. If Merc are not there next season then the six teams will be Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Lotus, Williams and Toro Rosso.. or will it? What will happen to Sauber and Force India.

    2. @HoHum
      +1
      I really think they should solve the money problem directly, and not try to come from the side with all these stupid technical rules.
      Pick a two digit number, from a hat if need be, and let that be the number of millions at which ALL F1 Team Spending is capped. Hire an independant auditer to ensure it, and stiff rules for those who try to subvert.

      Yes, teams will have to make value judgements on what the work on, but the freedom is there.
      I would expect the paddock to look rather space and less glamorous if that money needs to be spent on a new Wind Tunnel.

  5. ShaneB457 (@shaneb12345678910)
    20th June 2012, 1:56

    There is nothing I would like more than to see Webber world champion this year. He has been a real good servant to F1 and deserves that one title. I rank him as definately one of the best drivers on the grid. He is just as good or possibly even better than Button I think. I know that he will leave F1, at the most, in a couple of years time so I think that becoming world champion would be so amazing and special for him. I believe that all sportsmen should retire with a bang and not with a wimper and it was sad to see Barrichello leave F1 with uncertanties about whether he would remain in a seat in 2012. I hope Red Bull keep him on for another couple of years to give him that chance of world champion.

    I dont think Webber would want to join Ferrari. He’s way too straightforward and decent to want to be involved in all of this politics mumbo-jumbo at that team. I mean the guy still has talent and his win in Monaco proves that. He’s been with Red Bull for quite a long time now and he’s familiar there and seems to be getting along okay. I hope he retires with his current team.

    I think Mark is the most consistent driver on the grid (along with Alonso and Vettel) and if he keeps up the consistency this year who knows?, he might just do it.

    I really do like Webber. He shows great tenacity and fight and is a very down to earth sort of guy. I love when he is interviewed because you know what he says is the truth and he does not really hide anything. He speaks his mind and does not hang about. I think that Formula one needs a sort of driver like Mark. For me, the grid would feel quite empty without him.

    1. I get the impression you quite like Mark Webber

    2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      20th June 2012, 13:45

      I think Mark is the most consistent driver on the grid (along with Alonso and Vettel) and if he keeps up the consistency this year who knows?, he might just do it.

      Especially consistent at going backwards in most of his starts

  6. For me, the news of the day was that the Horse Whisperer is on Twitter!

    https://twitter.com/#!/GrilloRampante

    1. smells like fake…

    2. If that is true, it has made my week! Given the amount of stupid and uncensored things said on tw!tter with a lack of forethought, this has got the makings of something truly hilarious!

  7. I’m surprised to see this topic surface again.

    Max Mosley might have seen this coming 4 years back when he proposed the idea to minimize spending. At that time, the idea was dismissed mostly due to clash of personality between Max and Luca / Flavio. Now, everyone wants to reduce cost when in 2011, the very reason why FOTA was formed became voided when team(s) violated the RRA.

    It is hard to imagine teams spend 50% of their budget on engines. $22 Million a year !! There could be huge savings for every team if they monopoly the engine supplier. Standardize rules; share resources such as wind tunnel, servers for CFD etc. Ultimately it is also down to the team to determine how they have to reduce their operation cost rather than spending millions on Hollywood designer Daniel Simon to come up with a design or exhibiting expensive motor-homes; or even throw yacht party for publicity.

    Fans like me and millions around the world would like to see our favourite teams presence in F1 for years together when controls are put forth to control & measure spending.

    1. @icemangrins

      Max Mosley might have seen this coming 4 years back when he proposed the idea to minimize spending. At that time, the idea was dismissed mostly due to clash of personality between Max and Luca / Flavio

      The teams had no problem with the idea of a budget cap in 2009. What they were upset about was the way Mosley wanted to implement it. He wanted a voluntary budget cap, with two sets of technical regulations; one for teams that elected to observe the cap, and one for teams that did not. The budget cap rules would allow a whole lot of freedom in car design, whilst the non-budget cap rules were very restrictive. The teams felt that Mosley’s proposal would create two separate championships within the category, which wasn’t acceptable.

      Now, everyone wants to reduce cost when in 2011, the very reason why FOTA was formed became voided when team(s) violated the RRA.

      That was never proven. FOTA fell apart because the teams were unhappy with the way the RRA was being policed – it was too easy for one team to accuse another of violating it and have them suspended from the organisation while FOTA negotiated the next season’s technical regulations with the FIA, excluding the suspended team from having any input.

      And I find it no coincidence that Luca di Montezemolo was the driving force behind FOTA, but Ferrari were one of the first teams out of FOTA ahead of the negotiations for the new Concorde Agreement, and they got the best deal with Bernie.

      It is hard to imagine teams spend 50% of their budget on engines. $22 Million a year !!

      It’s unlikely a $40 million budget cap will be introduced. The number simply isn’t feasible. It’s more likely that a budget cap will be around $100-$120 million.

  8. Webbers Red Bull future should be dependent on the teams results. Their strategy at Canada was catastrophic for Mark.

    They never bothered to cover cars or try and get him track position and he spent the entire race stuck behind either a Lotus or a Sauber.

    1. Of course, Webber didn’t help his own race by going off the road.

    2. Agreed. Hey does anyone know what the intermittent engine glitch was he had for the 1st 10 laps or so?

  9. Not sure if Red Bull should be worried about a lack of budget, I pretty much paid for it during my exams

    1. Sean (@spaceman1861)
      20th June 2012, 7:21

      Hahaha +1 :D

  10. You will all be pleased to know that Keith will resume writing the round-ups from this evening onwards.

    I admit that I have missed Keith’s presence on the site but you have been doing a very good job in substituting him, @willwood .

    1. @girts Nah, terrible job on the round-ups @willwood ;)

      I jest, they’ve been spot on and hope to see you around these parts again!

  11. why are there no F1 drivers in this rich list recently published by Forbes? do they not make the cut or is it that F1 drivers aren’t considered athletes???

  12. I personally believe that Dr. Marko should resign from the position of the manager of Red Bull’s driver development programme. His only success story is Sebastian Vettel. It seems that the team still has not managed to develop a decent replacement for Mark Webber despite spending zillions on it and having Toro Rosso as a finishing school. The fact that so many young drivers have been kicked out and that Webber is still there makes me think that picking Vettel was rather a lucky coincidence than the logical result of a good selection and development process, which is something Dr. Marko should take responsibility for.

    1. Why do I get the feeling that your desire to see Marko resign has nothing to do with the failure of the RBYDP to find another Vettel?

      1. Well, I know that many people don’t like Dr. Marko because he is a man of influence in the team and Vettel is his boy so some think that he is the reason for Webber being treated unfairly. I disagree with that opinion as I don’t think that RBR treat their drivers unfairly and I also believe that what Marko does for the team is just ‘business as usual’ in F1.

        I admit that I’m not a fan of Dr. Marko but I don’t think he should leave F1 or even RBR completely. I just wanted to point out that the young drivers of RBR have often been blamed (by Dr. Marko and others) for lack of good performance but if RBR, with their resources, cannot find and develop new ‘race winners’ for many consecutive years, then something must be wrong with how the programme is being managed.

        1. Drop Valencia!
          20th June 2012, 8:13

          Montoya? not in the RBYDP but a Marco driver…. Ricciardo, race pace not 100% but that can be learned, he has all of the potential needed to be a Vettel MKII. Marco has produced afew winners…

          1. I don’t think that we have seen enough evidence to call Ricciardo a potential ‘race winner’ (Dr. Marko used this expression when explaining why Alguersuari and Buemi lost their seats) yet. You are absolutely right about Montoya but that was more than 10 years ago.

        2. @girts

          I just wanted to point out that the young drivers of RBR have often been blamed (by Dr. Marko and others) for lack of good performance but if RBR, with their resources, cannot find and develop new ‘race winners’ for many consecutive years, then something must be wrong with how the programme is being managed.

          I’d say that the RBYDP’s problem is that once-in-a-generation talent only comes by once in a generation. They want to find another Vettel, and that’s fine – but Vettel has set an incredibly high standard. And it’s not as if the likes of Ricciardo and Vergne are without pedigree, either. They’re certainly talented, but as we’ve seen countless times in the past, success in the lower categories does not guarantee success in Formula 1.

          1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
            20th June 2012, 13:53

            @prisoner-monkeys even when success from a great driver coming from a lower category is not necessarily implied, you can see most of the times it DOES produce a good F1 driver. It’s not only the driver but a combiination of driver+machine. Hamilton was awesome in GP2 (or F2?) and there he is awesome again in F1, and I’m sorry for the comparison but Grosjean has shown more potential than in his Alonso.teammate days. And that makes me agree with you when you mention Vettel is a “high standard” to be compared. Grosjean didn’t shine as Alonso’s teammate (Fer is outstanding!) but after some seasons he has gained more maturity to challenge Raikkonen (who must be feeling some “jetlag” comeback).

          2. Vettel has set the standard very high, and for sure Alguersuari & Buemi fell short of that standard, but I for one believe that Vergne & Riccardo have the potential. The former needs to sort out his qualifying or he has no hope (after all Red Bull normally win from the front), the latter just needs experience in my opinion.

    2. What PM said.
      And also

      The fact that so many young drivers have been kicked out and that Webber is still there…

      Why replace Webber if the young drivers cant match his consistency, pace and point scoring abilities. Not to mention the ability to take points of Vettel’s rivals.
      Use Webber as a benchmark, if the young guys cant match his potential, dump them and try again.

      Why? Think about it. They are just going to play no. 2 to Vettel even if they replace Webber (Vettel’s the golden child remember) so it makes sense to only replace Webber if the young guys can do a better job.
      So far, none of them have shown the potential to be able to do so which is why Webber’s still there and we have 2 new faces at torro rosso this year.

      1. They haven’t had a chance to be compared though. I think most of the drivers on the grid could have scored the same points as Webber in the 2010 and 2011 cars, such was there edge over their rivals. Webber’s driving wasn’t exactly exceptional.

        RBR have to show some true belief in the YDP and put one of them in that seat, that’s the only time a comparison can truly be made.

        1. Maybe Webber’s driving wasn’t exceptional n those seasons, but he is still a top 6-8 driver on today’s grid, capable of front row grid starts for Jaguar in 2004 and Williams in 2006.

          So while Webber may have looked better than he was in 2010 thanks to his teammate’s misfortune, it is fair to say he is still better than the likes of Alguesuari, Buemi, Speed and Liuzzi, who given around 2 seasons each, didn’t really punch above their weight.

    3. I think also helped a lot that when Vets had his TR drive they were in a lot stronger position than today as they were receiving a lot of support from Newey and were actually showing up RBR on more than one occasion. Some could argue that was Vets but I would say it was all about the package. Hard to get noticed when your kicking around in 16th.

      1. I think also helped a lot that when Vets had his TR drive they were in a lot stronger position than today as they were receiving a lot of support from Newey and were actually showing up RBR on more than one occasion. Some could argue that was Vets but I would say it was all about the package.

        This was back when Red Bull were finsihing 7th in the WCC. The STR3 was hardly going to be a world beater, yet it was Vettel, and only Vettel’s STR that took seven top-six finishes in a car that wasn’t supposed to keep up with the two Ferraris, Mclarens, BMWs, Renaults and Toyotas.

        It’s fair to say it was down to Vettel.

    4. Oh yeah & Webber would pants all those drivers mentioned above. No where near in his league.

      1. @ming-mong Assuming you’re talking about Alguersuari, Buemi, Vergne, Ricciardo I agree that Webber is still better than them.

  13. Am I the only one that has a slight chuckle every time he sees the #2 on Webber’s hat?

    1. just like the Hertz (I think) advert “we’re number two so we try harder”. Thats Webber.

  14. Vijay Mallya: “Formula One is hard to predict at the moment. It’s seriously competitive with seven different winners in seven races, all of which is great for the sport. But while it’s hard to predict, we still need to lift our game, especially if we want to target fifth or sixth in the constructors’ championship. Yes, we’ve had one of our best starts to a season ever in terms of points scored, but the teams around us have also performed exceptionally well.”

    Does anybody else think that Vijay is feeling a little left out this year? In a year of ups and downs, Force India have been perhaps the most anonymous team on the grid. Paul di Resta has put in the odd good performance to pick up some minor points, and Nico Hulkenberg has largely failed to display any of the potential he had before coming into Formula 1. Meanwhile, fellow midfielders Williams have had a race win, while Lotus have moved up in the world and Sauber have picked up two podiums. Force India, on the other hand, haven’t really done anything.

    1. I agree. They’ve also suffered by not being part of one of the off-track dramas: thinking about Sauber’s Perez and the ‘other’ Ferrari seat, Williams’s personnel changes and pit-lane fire and Lotus with the Dany Bahar story.

      Not only are they anonymous from a racing point of view, they are anonymous from a media point of view also.

      1. Don’t forget that for FI it would have been a welcome time not being asked about where Mallya is getting the money to support the team and his luxurious life @voisey!

  15. That Webber article is just more propaganda, media twisting his words. It’s the same situation every year as he states, the only valid point in the whole article is the fact that he himself clarifies that he hasn’t spoken to Ferrari in regards to next year.
    Another one to add this years stats – The Aussie pair of Webber and Ricciardo are the worst starters for the year.
    Webber has lost 7 places off the grid
    Ricciardo 14 places… Down Under syndrome?

  16. That’s a pretty good blog from Peter Windsor. I don’t think that we should be wrapping Pirelli up in cotton wool, if they were doing a bad job then they need to be brought up on it, however, they’re doing a great job and should be recognised for doing so.

    A lot of arm-chair experts are pulling Pirelli apart for no reason whatsoever and it is annoying. It’s annoying because Pirelli are being good to us, they’re doing what we asked for, being incredibly open and accessible and above all producing some good races where otherwise we may have suffered. It’s also annoying because these arm-chair experts are pretty much wrong in all their assessments. Of course, people like to make a drama about things in F1, it wouldn’t be F1 without someone complaining, but it’s just frustrating that those who chose to follow the highest level of motorsport seem to have very little capacity to appreciate why the tyres are the way they are and nor do they want to be educated.

    1. I think Pirelli are doing as they have been asked and so criticism from those who don’t agree that they are doing a good job should direct said complaints toward F1/FIA. I don’t know that there is a fear, or should be, of scaring Pirelli away from F1 as Windsor suggests could happen if people inside F1 don’t veto themselves, and at the same time it is constructive criticism that affects change just as he claims it was people’s criticism of lack of passing that has brought us to where we are. I think that when even the drivers can’t explain why one day they are hooked up and the next day they are not, such is the unpredictabiity of the tires, then perhaps there is room for tweeking, but again, that criticism should be directed more toward F1 than Pirelli. Many criticise F1 for DRS, so obviously they don’t get everything right in everyone’s mind, and many feel the same way about how the current tires have affected things and think they still need tweeking. I think a lot of people educated in F1 don’t want a lottery and don’t like the concept as MS explained of them being limited by the tires from pushing the cars to their maximum ability. Again, point the finger at FIA then, not Pirelli.

    2. I do have tire gripes, but none against Pirrelli

      Why must a driver use Both compounds?
      Why must a driver start on their fastest Quali tires?
      Why has the FIA required a Cliff drop off in tire performance?
      Good on Pirelli for doing what their told, now if only the boss were’nt such an idiot..

      On the other side… 7 winners in as many races, the “show” is great. You cant really argue with results…

      1. That’s just it though…you can argue the results if they come from tires falling off the cliff…you can argue the results if they are coming from a ‘lottery.’ I’m not saying I have a huge issue with how it has gone so far, but I’m just thinking of things that drivers like FA have said in that if it appears to be a lottery then that takes away from F1. ie. there still should be some perception that the better teams are going to be rewarded, and the lesser teams shouldn’t just get away with wins for spending half the money and effort just because their tires happened to hook them up that day.

        But that said I do think the days are numbered that we won’t see a repeat winner (the odds favour it although MS, RG, and KR could easily be ‘new’ winners yet), and I do think many teams are getting a handle on the tires and they are becoming a little less unpredictable as would make sense simply from races being run and time being put in allowing the teams to compile data and understanding.

  17. Just wanted to say Labas Rytas to everyone from sunny Lithuania. On holiday here with wife and Coefficient jnr. Also visiting the wife’s family whilst we’re here. So I’ll have a Didelis Alus for you all, Į Sveikatą.

    1. Lol…’Coefficient jnr’…love it…kind of like calling your firstborn ‘Unit 1’.

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