F1: Webber Frustrated By KERS Problems

Formula 1

F1: Webber Frustrated By KERS Problems

Red Bull driver cites KERS problems as "demoralizing"...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 28, 2012 New Delhi (IND)

Mark Webber says it's tough for drivers to control their emotions on the podium. (Photo: Getty Images)

A frustrated Mark Webber lost second place to Fernando Alonso in India after struggling with KERS problems.

Webber lost KERS around lap 20, and while he got it back soon afterwards, it was in restricted form. He dropped back from team mate Sebastian Vettel, and was eventually passed by Alonso on lap 48.

“It was due to KERS that I started to lose the rhythm and the tempo,” he explained. “Obviously when the KERS is coming on and off, we need to also screw around with the brake balance and lots of other things. The guys have got a huge amount of plate-spinning to try to feed that into the cockpit for me.

“The last thing you want in a one-stop strategy race is starting to have front locking, because we need to do long, long stints. So obviously this is a pain in the arse and we had to manage it as best we can. The stop was really because of when Fernando pitted, so we had to react to that.

“The stop was alright, and then the prime was a little bit more high maintenance, a little bit trickier actually, I think for both Seb and I. I managed to break the DRS, managed to get away from Fernando. I then got myself together.”

Webber came under pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages, but a mistake by the McLaren man gave him some breathing space.

“It’s so demoralizing, that straight with no KERS. I think I was very lucky that Lewis made a mistake in Turn 3, I think on lap 57. I saw it in the mirrors, it was either 57 or 58. And that was important, because I think he was starting to get a bit of momentum and I was very keen to keep him off the DRS as long as possible because once he got that I was toast. I think another two laps and he would have got me.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.