Mark Webber has admitted that Sebastian Vettel has all but sealed the 2011 Formula 1 crown. At Monza on Sunday, the Australian – whose front wing became jammed under his car after contact with Felipe Massa - notched up his and Red Bull’s first retirement since last season’s Korean Grand Prix.
“The Italian Grand Prix was one of those races that reminds you how much it sucks not to finish,” Webber wrote in a column for BBC Sport. “It's been a while for me but it's such a frustrating feeling - both for yourself and for the team after all the effort that has gone in. It was doubly disappointing at Monza because the car was better than it has been all year.
“It all started to go wrong in qualifying. It was pretty close between myself and Sebastian on Friday and in the first two parts of qualifying. But, in the top ten shootout, there was too much indecision from me on what we were going to do - and I had some problems with my KERS too. I didn't have KERS for the whole lap and I couldn't be sure it was behaving in the braking areas when it was recharging; that is not ideal when you're hitting the brakes from more than 200 miles per hour.
“Seb won the race again and, although he is not quite Champion again yet, we're all now effectively fighting for second place. But I wasn't really thinking about that. I just wanted to build on the momentum of Spa - which was a very strong race for me - and challenge for the win again. That's probably what undid me early in the race.
It didn't work out and that's the way it goes sometimes in sport.”
With six races remaining including next weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Webber has dropped to third in the standings behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and is now trailing his championship-leading team-mate by 117 points, with a maximum of 150 still on offer.
See also:
Alguersuari ‘bothered’ by Webber’s re-signing
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:20:46.172 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | +9.590 |
| 3. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +16.909 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +17.417 |
| 5. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +32.677 |
| 6. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +42.993 |
| 7. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1 Lap |
| 8. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1 Lap |
| 9. | B. Senna | Lotus Renault | +1 Lap |
| 10. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +1 Lap |
| Full results | |||
| Mark Webber | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Mark Webber photos | |||
| Sebastian Vettel | |||
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| More Sebastian Vettel photos | |||
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