ID :
52048
Tue, 03/24/2009 - 16:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/52048
The shortlink copeid
Webber`s F1 wings `have been clipped`
Australia's lone Formula 1 driver Mark Webber has bad news for his fans ahead of
this weekend's Australian F1 Grand Prix, declaring his Red Bull cars have already
been overtaken by rival teams.
Webber's car had shown great promise in early work under the new rules that have
changed, among other things, aerodynamics and tyres.
But more recently it appears other teams have passed the Red Bull cars.
"The car did not feel bad, and that is the most alarming thing," Webber said.
"The others have developed better than we have."
Webber also conceded that the basic set-up of the car suited new team-mate Sebastian
Vettel's driving style better than his own.
He also admitted he had never encountered such a close pre-season as the one just
concluded, suggesting as many as seven teams were in the reckoning to win in
Melbourne.
"It is really difficult to read who is doing what," he said.
"I think it is too close to call."
Until a few weeks ago Webber gave the Red Bull team a winning chance in Melbourne,
but he now sees the issue as resting between Williams, Ferrari, and BMW.
"You would expect McLaren maybe to have done a bit more, going by the testing over
the last few years. But apart from that, we all know they are more than capable of
turning up in Melbourne and spanking everyone," he said.
In another piece of negative news for the Aussie prior to this weekend's launch of
the F1 season, he revealed he had also broken his shoulder in the cycling accident
late last year in which he broke his leg.
Webber limped into Melbourne this week to tell local reporters he hadn't disclosed
the full extent of the injuries he suffered in a mountain-biking accident during his
annual charity Pure Tasmania Challenge last November.
The challenge has been canned for this year.
Webber has also joined some of the greats of motor racing in questioning the new
"winner takes all" system of deciding the world drivers' championship that was
initially to have been introduced this year.
The changes have since been postponed for 12 months following an outcry from teams
and drivers.
Under rules framed during the off-season, the No.1 driver was to have been the man
who won the most races, rather than the traditional system of awarding the title to
the highest points scorer over the year.
The rule has come in for heavy criticism from past and present F1 greats, including
seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
The former Ferrari driver said it made no sense and would do nothing to enhance F1
racing.
Webber's gripe is that the rule will tend to punish drivers who are consistent but
fail to win many races - or in his case so far, those win none.
The Australian said BMW driver Robert Kubica provided a good example last year of
why the rule is bad.
"Robert Kubica would have been nowhere near the Championship last year, and do you
want that?" Webber said.
"Robert drove awesome last year and he would have been nowhere near the title hunt
with these regulations.
"You could have the world champion making more mistakes than the guy who is second.
"Whether consistency makes a better driver, or the driver who wins more races is
better than the guy who is more competitive at more races throughout the season, is
a matter of opinion."
Webber conceded however that the proposed new method of deciding the championship
could produce more competitive racing drivers keener to challenge for a victory than
to nurse their cars around the track in an effort to pick up a couple of points.
Meanwhile, Briton Jensen Button has been named as a surprise favourite for Sunday's
Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix after his new Brawn GP team blitzed
rivals in pre-season practice.
Sportingbet Australia boss Michael Sullivan said Brawn GP had been enormous
shorteners for both the opening race of the season and the constructors'
championship.
"Jensen Button is a $4.75 favourite to win at Albert Park when realistically we gave
him no hope just a few weeks ago," Sullivan said.
"Their pre-season pace was unbelievable and Brawn have shortened from $41 to $7.00
to win the constructors' championship in their first year after taking over from
Honda which would be an amazing effort."
Pre-season testing is often an unreliable preview of the Formula One season.
But, along with several of the sport's heavy hitters such as Ferrari and
McLaren-Mercedes, the betting agency believes that the speed the cars showed at
trials in Spain reflects their competitiveness.
Brawn rose from the ashes of Honda when the Japanese car maker pulled out of F1 due
to the global economic downturn.
Honda drivers Button and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello were retained by Ross Brawn,
the ex-Honda technical chief, who bought the team and renamed it after himself.
The Brawn cars have been the surprise package of testing ahead of the season-opening
race at Albert Park.
Button has shown a clean set of tyres to the traditional pacesetters and, with fresh
rules applying which should even out the field, there is massive support for the new
outfit.
Sullivan said Ferrari teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were next in betting
just ahead of Fernando Alonso and Button's teammate, Rubens Barrichello.
"The Ferraris are second and third favourite and they do look the obvious dangers
with 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton a little off the pace in early testing,"
Webber is currently a $51 chance to win the race and $15 for a podium spot.
"We will all be cheering for Webber but realistically he will need a lot of
casualties in front of him to feature on the podium," Sullivan said.
Australian Grand Prix betting market Jenson Button [Brawn] 4.75 Kimi Raikkonen
[Ferrari] 5.50 Felipe Massa [Ferrari] 6.50 Fernando Alonso [Renault] 6.50 Rubens
Barrichello [Brawn] 7.00 Lewis Hamilton [McLaren] 9.00 Robert Kubica [BMW] 11.00
Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull] 21.00 Nick Heidfeld [BMW] 21.00 Jarno Trulli [Toyota]
34.00 Timo Glock [Toyota] 34.00 Heikki Kovalainen [McLaren] 41.00 Nico Rosberg
[Williams] 41.00 Mark Webber [Red Bull] 51.00 Others 67.00 Plus
(Odds from Sportingbet Australia)
this weekend's Australian F1 Grand Prix, declaring his Red Bull cars have already
been overtaken by rival teams.
Webber's car had shown great promise in early work under the new rules that have
changed, among other things, aerodynamics and tyres.
But more recently it appears other teams have passed the Red Bull cars.
"The car did not feel bad, and that is the most alarming thing," Webber said.
"The others have developed better than we have."
Webber also conceded that the basic set-up of the car suited new team-mate Sebastian
Vettel's driving style better than his own.
He also admitted he had never encountered such a close pre-season as the one just
concluded, suggesting as many as seven teams were in the reckoning to win in
Melbourne.
"It is really difficult to read who is doing what," he said.
"I think it is too close to call."
Until a few weeks ago Webber gave the Red Bull team a winning chance in Melbourne,
but he now sees the issue as resting between Williams, Ferrari, and BMW.
"You would expect McLaren maybe to have done a bit more, going by the testing over
the last few years. But apart from that, we all know they are more than capable of
turning up in Melbourne and spanking everyone," he said.
In another piece of negative news for the Aussie prior to this weekend's launch of
the F1 season, he revealed he had also broken his shoulder in the cycling accident
late last year in which he broke his leg.
Webber limped into Melbourne this week to tell local reporters he hadn't disclosed
the full extent of the injuries he suffered in a mountain-biking accident during his
annual charity Pure Tasmania Challenge last November.
The challenge has been canned for this year.
Webber has also joined some of the greats of motor racing in questioning the new
"winner takes all" system of deciding the world drivers' championship that was
initially to have been introduced this year.
The changes have since been postponed for 12 months following an outcry from teams
and drivers.
Under rules framed during the off-season, the No.1 driver was to have been the man
who won the most races, rather than the traditional system of awarding the title to
the highest points scorer over the year.
The rule has come in for heavy criticism from past and present F1 greats, including
seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
The former Ferrari driver said it made no sense and would do nothing to enhance F1
racing.
Webber's gripe is that the rule will tend to punish drivers who are consistent but
fail to win many races - or in his case so far, those win none.
The Australian said BMW driver Robert Kubica provided a good example last year of
why the rule is bad.
"Robert Kubica would have been nowhere near the Championship last year, and do you
want that?" Webber said.
"Robert drove awesome last year and he would have been nowhere near the title hunt
with these regulations.
"You could have the world champion making more mistakes than the guy who is second.
"Whether consistency makes a better driver, or the driver who wins more races is
better than the guy who is more competitive at more races throughout the season, is
a matter of opinion."
Webber conceded however that the proposed new method of deciding the championship
could produce more competitive racing drivers keener to challenge for a victory than
to nurse their cars around the track in an effort to pick up a couple of points.
Meanwhile, Briton Jensen Button has been named as a surprise favourite for Sunday's
Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix after his new Brawn GP team blitzed
rivals in pre-season practice.
Sportingbet Australia boss Michael Sullivan said Brawn GP had been enormous
shorteners for both the opening race of the season and the constructors'
championship.
"Jensen Button is a $4.75 favourite to win at Albert Park when realistically we gave
him no hope just a few weeks ago," Sullivan said.
"Their pre-season pace was unbelievable and Brawn have shortened from $41 to $7.00
to win the constructors' championship in their first year after taking over from
Honda which would be an amazing effort."
Pre-season testing is often an unreliable preview of the Formula One season.
But, along with several of the sport's heavy hitters such as Ferrari and
McLaren-Mercedes, the betting agency believes that the speed the cars showed at
trials in Spain reflects their competitiveness.
Brawn rose from the ashes of Honda when the Japanese car maker pulled out of F1 due
to the global economic downturn.
Honda drivers Button and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello were retained by Ross Brawn,
the ex-Honda technical chief, who bought the team and renamed it after himself.
The Brawn cars have been the surprise package of testing ahead of the season-opening
race at Albert Park.
Button has shown a clean set of tyres to the traditional pacesetters and, with fresh
rules applying which should even out the field, there is massive support for the new
outfit.
Sullivan said Ferrari teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa were next in betting
just ahead of Fernando Alonso and Button's teammate, Rubens Barrichello.
"The Ferraris are second and third favourite and they do look the obvious dangers
with 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton a little off the pace in early testing,"
Webber is currently a $51 chance to win the race and $15 for a podium spot.
"We will all be cheering for Webber but realistically he will need a lot of
casualties in front of him to feature on the podium," Sullivan said.
Australian Grand Prix betting market Jenson Button [Brawn] 4.75 Kimi Raikkonen
[Ferrari] 5.50 Felipe Massa [Ferrari] 6.50 Fernando Alonso [Renault] 6.50 Rubens
Barrichello [Brawn] 7.00 Lewis Hamilton [McLaren] 9.00 Robert Kubica [BMW] 11.00
Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull] 21.00 Nick Heidfeld [BMW] 21.00 Jarno Trulli [Toyota]
34.00 Timo Glock [Toyota] 34.00 Heikki Kovalainen [McLaren] 41.00 Nico Rosberg
[Williams] 41.00 Mark Webber [Red Bull] 51.00 Others 67.00 Plus
(Odds from Sportingbet Australia)
