Red Bull Racing recorded a mixed result in today’s Monaco Grand Prix. Mark Webber was a solid fifth, challenging the Ferrari’s during the closing laps.
However Webber’s team mate, Sebastian Vettel, experienced a poor Monaco Grand Prix. The German crashed out early into the race, after suffering from high tyre degradation on the prime tyres.
This weekend has come as a severe blow to Red Bull in their championship battle with Brawn. The team must seek further improvements if they are to close the gap.
Mark Webber – 5th: “We’re pretty happy with fifth to be honest, to get a few points after a challenging qualifying session is pretty good. There were a few more people that came in on the act this weekend, so for us to still come away with a few points is good for us in the Constructors’ Championship. The guys worked like hell this weekend to fit a lot of new parts so it was important for us to get some points. At other venues we’ll be stronger again.”
Sebastian Vettel – DNF: “Not much to tell – I was braking maybe a little bit too late, locked the rears, lost the car and hit the wall. Of course we lost a lot of time already in the first stint, being on the soft tyres. We were confident that they would work for the first short stint, but they didn’t. Of course it’s disappointing, but sometimes this happens. In Monaco, you make a little mistake and you pay the price.”
Christian Horner: “A good drive from Mark today. He lost quite a bit of time in the first stint behind Kovalainen and thereafter managed to close in on the Ferraris although unfortunately not quite enough to jump them at the final stop. Therefore fifth was the optimal finish he could achieve today. Sebastian was on an aggressive strategy from yesterday.
“Starting on the option tyres, they sustained high degradation almost immediately, which backed up a lot of the field. As a result we called his first pit stop reasonably early to get him onto the better tyre, but unfortunately a couple of laps later he went off at Ste. Devote. All the guys in the team have put in exceptional hours this weekend and four points for their efforts isn’t really a just reward.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer, Track Support: “A typical Monaco race, which was long and difficult. We took a gamble with Sebastian’s tyre choice and went for the super soft tyres at the beginning, but it didn’t pay off. He then had an off, which ended his race. Mark had a very strong drive, but starting eighth he couldn’t hope for a better result than fifth. He was very quick at the end, very competitive. So, it was a bad overall result here, but I think we have some positive things to take away from this weekend.”
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