Rabbits

Roar Rookie

Joined July 2011

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As a huge Webber fan, I understand the sentiment of this article as I’m also disappointed Mark hasn’t been able to convert his pole positions into race wins in 2011. It is also true that Mark is a poor starter, but this doesn’t explain his poor conversion in 2011 as the current regulations with 3 or 4 pit stops in most races give drivers plentiful opportunities to pass drivers if they have good race pace.

I’d like to suggest another reason for his poor conversion, the Red Bull F1 car simply isn’t as fast as people think it is!!! There’s no doubt it’s the fastest car on the grid, although this might be changing, but I believe the exceptional qualifying performances of Vettel and Webber accentuate the difference in performance levels amongst the top teams. Mark and Vettel have both been brilliant in qualifying throughout their respective careers at other teams, regularly outqualifying teammates, and now find themselves in an incredibly competitive internal battle at Red Bull. No other team in F1 compares to Red Bull in terms of the closeness of their qualifying times, leading the drivers to pay microscopic attention to telemetry, and maximise the car’s performance. The consistently miniscule gap between the Red Bull cars in Q3 suggests both drivers are qualifying extremely well. The current environment at Red Bull is perfectly suited to fast qualifying times; whereas McLaren and Ferrari drivers are frequently paying more attention to Red Bull Racing rather than focusing on improving their own technical package and processes.

Many F1 obervers have noticed that Red Bull seem to have difficulty translating qualifying speed to a comparative race pace advantage, they have frequently been on the defensive on Sunday afternoon. However, the deterioration of the Pirelli tyres dictates that drivers must treat the tyres with care, requiring significant changes in driving style from Saturday to Sunday. By his own admission, Mark has had more trouble than most coming to terms with this change.

Once he’s recovered from poor starts, Mark has driven fast and consistently from pole position, but simply hasn’t had the pace to beat his rivals. Let’s not be overly critical and punish him for brilliant qualifying performances.

A interesting and related point of discussion is that perhaps Red Bull are yet to fully appreciate the value of setting up the car for race conditions, rather than outright qualifying pace in 2011. Pole position is not essential for race wins with the current regulations. Mark’s storming drive from 18th on the grid to the podium demonstrates what’s possible from managing tyres in certain race conditions.

How does Mark Webber fail to win from pole?

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Motorsport

2011