Australian Mark Webber was left feeling disappointed after a driver error lost him valuable time in qualifying for Sunday’s German Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old Red Bull driver admitted that he ran wide at the start of his final lap and as a result he wound up half a second slower than his team-mate German Sebastian Vettel who will start on pole position.
That meant he will start Sunday’s race in fourth place behind the two Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
Webber admitted that error was all his own doing and is hoping for an improved performance in the race.
“I got a little bit wide on the entry to Turn 1,” he said.
“I stuck the front of the car out and I couldn’t get back into the line – my fault, and it wasn’t good enough.
“It meant I lost a position on the final laps – obviously I was third and then lost a position to Felipe (Massa), so that was a shame. Not the best qualifying so I look to the race tomorrow.”
Vettel pipped Alonso to pole position in the dying seconds of the session by just 0.002 seconds, and Webber admitted that he was not surprised at how close the competition for pole was as the Ferraris had been strong all weekend.
“I knew it was going to be tight with the short lap. It would have been nice to be amongst it, but Seb did a good job for pole so still a good day for the team.”
Vettel, 23, said he was relieved after claiming his first pole in front of his home crowd, but expects the Ferraris to be a serious threat in the race.
“I am extremely happy, first time on pole at home but the main challenge will come tomorrow – we have a very strong car here and a tough fight against the red cars,” he said.
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