Share

Webber hopes his bad luck ends

MANAMA, Bahrain - Mark Webber is confident Red Bull have addressed their reliability problems in the run up to the Bahrain Grand Prix and hopes he used up all his bad luck at the China GP last weekend (April 14).


The Australian will celebrate 200 races in F1 on Sunday (April 21), for which he will have a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision in Shanghai the previous week. The 36-year-old started from the pits lane in that race because he ran out of fuel during qualifying then retired after a wheel came off his car after a pit-stop.


"China was going so well up until qualifying. Then the wheels literally fell off the weekend," he told reporters at the Sakhir circuit, describing the chain of two technical problems as "one in a million".


FRUSTRATED


"It was a very tricky weekend after that," he added. "It's a bit frustrating but I'm very happy with how I'm driving, the team is doing a good job in terms of what I need to be quick in the car.


"In terms of reliability problems, we know they will be addressed very quickly."


Webber, who started out with Minardi in 2002 and raced for Jaguar and Williams before joining Red Bull in 2007, said he had asked for no cakes to mark his big anniversary... he just "just get on with it".


The Australian, winner of nine races in his career, has never been on the podium in Bahrain to date but that could change at the ninth attempt.


MILESTONE
MOMENT


"It's a proud moment," he said of the 200 races. "I'm not going to be thinking about it while I'm in the car obviously but when you're outside the car it's a bit of a milestone.


"We should be pretty quick here. We are going to have some strong opposition as we have done in the first three races ... we've had lots of different people being quick. We should be pretty strong," he added.


"Whether it's enough to have a more comfortable scenario like we did in Malaysia as a team, in terms of pace, remains to be seen."


Webber finished second in Malaysia behind triple champion team mate Sebastian Vettel after the German ignored team orders to stay behind him.


The Australian suggested the wheel problem in China was due to the threads on the wheel nuts and the speed at which pitstops are now conducted.

"They can sometimes backfire," he said. "In the end that's been addressed technically. I'm happy with how I'm driving, there's a lot of big boxes ticked for me and that's all you can keep doing.


"I guarantee when we win our first race we won't be thinking about Shanghai."

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE