• Italian Grand Prix

'We underperformed' - Webber

Mark Webber was left frustrated after finishing sixth © Getty Images

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• Report:
• Alonso thrills home crowd with victory
  

• Race:
• Italian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Nico Hülkenberg
• |
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Red Bull
• |
• Williams

Mark Webber believes Red Bull underperformed at the Italian Grand Prix and missed out on an opportunity to take a more commanding lead in the championship.

Webber finished sixth after his closest championship rival Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the first lap and went five points clear in the title chase.

"We underperformed as a team today and we could have capitalised on getting more points but instead we sniffed around just getting a few," he told BBC Sport. "It's a bit disappointing but at least we got some."

Webber was held up by Nico Hulkenberg during the race after the Williams driver controversially skipped a few of the Monza chicanes. After the race he said he was frustrated by the stewards' decision not to penalise him.

"We lost out at the start and a bit in the first lap and obviously we spent a lot of time behind Hulkenberg - he spent every second lap going through the chicanes. The stewards did a hard job on him by just leaving him alone, so that was interesting," he joked.

Asked if he was surprised to be beaten by team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who made his tyres last a whole race before pitting on the final lap, Webber responded: "Not very because we fought with Hulkenberg [for such a long time]. I knew the option was fine and that the prime tyre wasn't mega so it worked out well for him [Vettel]."

In his defence, Hulkenberg pointed out the stewards had not found anything wrong with his driving and said it was a result of pushing hard.

"I did cut the chicane because I was trying hard and I was fighting, I was also struggling a bit with the brake pedal," Hulkenberg said. "I was fighting the car, trying to defend my position and obviously when you push this can happen. I didn't get a penalty so I think it was OK even though it was pushing the limits. But it was a nice fight and a nice result."

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