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2011 Formula season has concluded with the extravagant finale at Brazil, which acted as a great consolation for Mark Webber who literally struggled in entire season. However, the world title was taken away by Sebastian Vettel in Japan, but rest of the field was cursing in lieu to hold Vettel and Red Bull’s dominance which, in the end didn’t happened.
Talking about the rivalry in Formula One, where defeating a teammate is the top priority irrespective of the car, and if you are in a gifted car like Red Bull it matters even more. Talking about the @aussiegrit (Mark Webber), he was totally outpaced by the youngest double world champion Sebastian Vettel in almost all the departments. The figure boy was in the rhythm all season and defended his title in a better way than anyone could have asked.
Let’s have a look how Webber was overshadowed by Vettel in the 2011 Formula One world championship:
- Race Positions: In 2011 Formula One season there were only two instances when Vettel wasn’t able to make the podium – in German GP and the penultimate race at Abu Dhabi. In Germany Vettel finished the race on P4 and in Abu Dhabi he was forced to retire after suffering a puncture in the opening lap. Webber on the other hand, made the podium 10 times, way below his teammate. He also suffered one retirement at Monza in the proceedings.
- Pole Positions: If we call Vettel the Pole man(no pun intended), we might not be mistaken, as the young German was able to secure 15 Pole positions and also broke Nigel Mansel’s record. Taking a look at his teammate’s record, Mark Webber scored just three pole positions in the identical Red Bull Racing car.
- Race Wins: Mark Webber only managed 1 race win in the entire season – at Brazil where Sebastian Vettel suffered gearbox issues. On the other hand Sebastian Vettel won 11 races in the entire season which is a huge difference.
- Tyre management: The major issue which hampered Webber’s progress in 2011 season is the new Pirelli tyres. Every now and then Webber wasn’t able to heat his tyres for a single lap run properly, which made him suffer in the qualifying. Vettel on the other hand made his Pirellis to work well. The other thing that restricted Webber was that he wasn’t able to make his tyre last longer in the qualifying like his teammate.
- Race starts: Mark Webber had some serious issues with his race start in 2011 season, due to which he wasn’t able to capitalize on his front row positions. On the other hand, his teammate Vettel made storming starts every time and led almost every race from the word ‘GO’. Rest of the field including Webber was playing catching game with Vettel until the final lap.
Mark Webber, after being outpaced totally in 2011 season is optimistic to fight back and perform strongly in the 2012 season. We need to wait and see how he work his way up after rectifying all the problems he had in the 2011 season.
