Webber eyes cool surfing after Sepang fiasco
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 26, 2013
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Mark Webber is upset as Sebastian Vettel ignores team order and snatches victory from him. |
Even catching a few waves on his surfboard back home in Australia might not be enough to assuage Mark Webber's fury at the way his teammate Sebastian Vettel stole victory from him at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Three-time world champion Vettel was forced to make a grovelling apology after ignoring team orders for the Red Bull drivers to keep their positions by overtaking Webber with 10 laps remaining of Sunday's race at Sepang.
The 36-year-old, who finished second in a Red Bull one-two, made his displeasure absolutely clear on the podium and said he would be considering his position during a spell of rest and recuperation on the Queensland coast.
The incident laid bare once more the issue of his place at the team he has raced for since 2007, alongside Vettel since 2009.
Webber has always maintained that he should be his German teammate's equal in the race for the world title but often suspected that was not the case.
"They know that I need 100 percent support," he said at the launch of the RB9 in February. "You cannot fight for world championships with 90. You need 100."
At the same event in Milton Keynes, team principal Christian Horner offered public reassurance that would be the case.
"For us it doesn't matter which driver wins so long as it's a driver in one of these cars," he said.
Sunday's incident clearly gave Australian Webber plenty of food for thought. "There were a lot of things going through my head in those closing laps. Not just from today, but from the past as well."
Among the "things" Webber might have been thinking about was the incident at the Turkish Grand Prix in 2010 when he and Vettel collided, knocking the German out of the race and denying the Australian, who was leading, the victory.
Webber, who turned down an offer from Ferrari to stay with the team on a one-year deal, has plenty of time to think about his future at Red Bull and perhaps even in Formula One with the third race of the season in Shanghai not until April 14.
"This time tomorrow I'll be catching a few waves on my surfboard and reflecting on everything that's happened," he said. "I hope the weather's good."
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