Webber: Penalising McLaren is crazy

Eurosport - Tue, 07 Aug 12:06:00 2007

In the latest edition of Red Bull star Mark Webber's exclusive Formula One blog for eurosport.yahoo.com, the straight-talking Aussie lifts the lid on his weekend in Hungary and gives his candid opinion on the controversy ripping through McLaren.

2007 European GP Red Bull Webber - 0

"Ninth place. They say it's one of the worst places to finish and they're not wrong. It was just the end of a disappointing race at Budapest. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the way I drove, but the car just didn't have that extra little bit of pace that would have got me in the points.

We had a good start from eighth on the grid and I settled into an okay rhythm, but we made a decision to change from a two-stop strategy to a three at the first stop.

With hindsight it was a good idea because if you kept little enough fuel in the car the soft tyres worked great - look what Nick Heidfeld did. But we didn't have the downforce. We'll go much better at the regular tracks.

I made a couple of mistakes on my third stint. I ran wide once at turn one and on the next lap once at turn two which cost me two seconds. Then Heikki Kovalainen came past me by about six seconds when I made my last stop, and that's what happens when you're right on the edge. They're the only two laps where I felt I could have done a better job. You can't overtake people on that circuit so you have to try things with the pit-stops and this time it just didn't work out.

Still, at least me and DC both made it to the finish for the second race in a row, so there's a positive, and at least we got home okay too. There was a strike of airport staff on Sunday night, but we managed to avoid it, so I haven't lost any sleep.

And on to McLaren. They really got themselves in a muddle qualifying didn't they? I know teams are looking for a clear track but sometimes they sit in the box for a bit longer than I'd expect. And for sure they screwed themselves over. But to lose all of their Constructors' championship points too? I just don't understand that.

Every team does it - bringing two cars in at the same time and inevitably delaying one driver. At the Nurburgring both David and I lost our last qualifying laps because the team weren't organised in that kind of situation and we didn't get out in time.

When you go to such extreme margins and try to leave the pits with say a minute and 30 to go when you know it takes a minute and 25 to do a lap, you're always taking a risk, and sometimes you screw yourselves.

I just don't understand the points penalty though. People have tried to explain it to me but I just don't get it. You screw yourself over and then get penalised for it. It's crazy.

It won't make any difference to the outcome of the championship though. McLaren have been the best team this year with the best car and the best drivers. You could re-run this year a hundred times and McLaren would still win it every time.

I just don't understand what the stewards were doing? One team drops the ball, ruins their own guy's chances of getting in a final lap and the team get punished? How does that work? It happens to teams all the way down the grid but they don't get their points taken away. It's just baffled me.

The relationship between Lewis and Fernando looks pretty tense at the moment. But I don't see that it's such a big deal really. Prost and Senna hated each other but they still won loads of races in their time as team-mates.

It's hard to have a good relationship with your team-mate. Michael Schumacher managed it, but he always had the situation where he was number one and the other guy knew it.

I've never really had a great relationship with any of my team-mates. Not just in F1 but in my whole career. It's not that we hated each other, I mean I used to talk to them, but it's not like we were friends or spent time together off the track.

That's just the way things have to be. F1 is a competitive sport after all and we all want to win. It's just that they're both fighting for the championship so it's a bit more intense.

It's getting like Prost and Senna. They only lasted two years together at McLaren and I don't see this one lasting any longer. I don't know if that means Fernando or Lewis leaving the team. It will be interesting to see.

It's two and a half weeks now before I have to go off to Turkey for the next race and, with the testing ban in place, I really don't know what to do with myself.

I haven't got a holiday planned so I'll just hang around here at my home in the UK, do my usual training, see some friends I haven't seen for a while and maybe even have a sneaky glass of red. I'm not good at doing nothing though. In fact, I'm over it already.

Mark Webber / Eurosport
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