• Belgian Grand Prix

Webber praises team for second place

ESPNF1 Staff
August 28, 2011 « Tyres kick up a storm ahead of Belgian GP | »
Mark Webber celebrates on the podium © Getty Images
Enlarge

Mark Webber paid credit to the work of the Red Bull team overnight after he battled back from a poor start to finish second in the Belgian Grand Prix.

"All in all I thought the way the team handled the problems we had yesterday and this morning was a credit to Adrian and his crew and all the guys on the floor and Christian as well. It was not an easy grand prix for those guys today on the pit wall today watching the two drivers out there so in the end we got a good result. I would have loved to have won the grand prix but still an enjoyable race and a god result."

Webber dropped to eighth place from his starting grid position of third and was forced into an early pit stop on rapidly graining tyres. But the team's race strategy paid dividends and he regained track position on his second stint.

"The start was shocking and a disappointing way to start the grand prix so I was on the back foot from there knowing that we were going to stop early as our tyres were pretty badly damaged after qualifying, so we needed to get rid of that set quite early," said Webber. "When I was back in the pack and saw Senna and a few of the other guys smashing each other up it was important to get away from that scene with everything still intact and that was the case."

Webber then enjoyed a gripping battle with Fernando Alonso, including a breathtaking overtaking move into Eau Rouge as he fought his way back into contention during the middle stages of the race.

"We made the first stop and had a very good fight with Fernando and had very good grip on the option initially and I could stay with him for very long stints on the prime tyre and the tyre was finished at the end. But that gave us track position back."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close