Webber defuses the controversy over the Silverstone orders

In a column published on the BBC website, Mark Webber reflects on the instructions he was given by his team at the end of the race and assures that they will have no impact on his future. Indeed, the Australian expressed his annoyance at the end of the Grand Prix after receiving several messages on his radio asking him to maintain the gap with his teammate, who was ahead of him, even as that gap was decreasing rapidly. “I chose to race as hard and honestly as I thought was possible, trying my best to beat Seb,” explains the Red Bull driver. “I got very close several times but couldn’t overtake him. It was obviously a difficult situation, but I still feel comfortable with what I did.”

« In this situation, there is a conflict of emotions: you want to improve your position, no matter who is in front and especially when it’s someone of Seb’s level. […] Then being asked to hold my position was something I wasn’t prepared to follow at that moment. If I had backed off and kept the gap at three seconds, as I was asked, it would have been much more difficult for me to find sleep after the race. »

The native of Queanbeyan explains that the instructions were particularly difficult to bear as they came just a few laps from the checkered flag: « Earlier in the race, there are always many things that can happen, and you help a guy who, at that moment in the race, is faster than you due to strategy or whatever else. But then, you make your way back to the front and there are only five laps left, with no strategy left in play: it’s just raw racing. In this context, any driver is less inclined to accept such a request. »

The great Mark admits, however, that he was aware of going against the team’s wishes. “Obviously, they weren’t happy, not because they didn’t want me to finish second, but just because they didn’t want us to have an accident. From the team’s point of view, it’s obviously their worst nightmare. That said, if they were worried about the team losing points, swapping positions could have been a solution for us, given that I was a bit faster at that point in the race and was putting a lot of pressure on Sebastian,” explains the Australian, thus echoing Martin Brundle’s statements.

« Red Bull did not need to see both of their cars make mistakes on the track and allow McLaren and Ferrari to score more points, but […] if they wanted morale to be high this time, they should have said: “Sebastian, Mark is faster than you, » stated the BBC commentator after the race.

The Red Bull driver acknowledges, however, that neither he nor his team are big fans of it and claims that Sebastian Vettel alone could have made such a decision. From my point of view, the ball was more in Sebastian’s court than mine.

After the race, the reaction of Christian Horner, Team Principal of the Austrian team, was, however, sharp, with the Briton wishing to speak with Mark Webber about it, which was done: Christian and I discussed the situation after the race. We both put forward our arguments, and I think we came out of it seeing it from both perspectives.

The Australian, still negotiating with his team for a contract extension that ends at the end of this season, reassures about his future: « The team and I have time to make this decision. We’re discussing an extension at the moment and it’s positive: what happened on Sunday doesn’t turn my world upside down. »

The soon-to-be 35-year-old driver is optimistic, especially since, for the first time this season, he was able to beat his teammate: « It was a positive weekend for me, and it makes me optimistic for the end of the season. We’re really heading in the right direction in terms of performance in the last few races, and I’m managing to make better use of the car on Sundays. Earlier in the year, with reliability issues as well, that wasn’t the case. My engineers were very happy with that: we’ve definitely made a step forward. »