• European Grand Prix - Qualifying

Webber explains DRS failure

Mark Webber was eliminated in Q1 after his DRS failed © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• European Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Mark Webber revealed that a DRS failure was the last in a string of problems that prevented him from getting out of Q1 during qualifying for the European Grand Prix.

Having admitted that Red Bull would have work to do overnight after Friday practice, a brake problem limited Webber to just four laps during FP3 on Saturday morning. Already on the back foot for qualifying he was then left without any DRS and could only qualify in 19th place on the grid, and although Webber praised the work done by his mechanics he explained it was a case of one problem after another.

"This morning was brakes, master cylinder; we changed everything on the brakes so the pedal was on the floor so we couldn't run this morning - or we did one lap but we knew we were in the s**t so we had to stop to give the guys a chance and as much time as possible to fix it before qualy," Webber said. "They fixed that, but then we had a hydraulic issue which was affecting the gearbox so we had to pit. They isolated it somehow but that then brought the DRS down so we knew the gearbox was going to be OK but we had no DRS. Obviously that's a pretty big hit around here - about 1.3 (seconds) I think."

When asked if he would be able to try and come through the field from the back of the grid as he did in China in 2011, Webber said only strategy could help him make slight progress and that he would have to do less pit stops than those in front.

"Strategy is a little bit easier than Monaco in terms of trying to come through ... but it's a completely different track (to China). There's one line. Shanghai has the long back straight, you can pass in turn four, you can pass in many places in Shanghai, here it's very tricky to pass. We know that the top speed is not our forte, we have to have a clean track to do our lap times.

"One more doesn't work because that means you need to clear people on track and we're not clearing people so well. So it has to be one less."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.