F1: This Monaco Win Harder Than 2010, Says Webber

Formula 1

F1: This Monaco Win Harder Than 2010, Says Webber

Mark Webber says his victory in Sunday's Monaco GP wasn't easy...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted May 27, 2012 Monte Carlo (MCO)

Mark Webber scored his second Monaco GP win in three years after a faultless performance on the streets of the principality.

Having inherited pole from Michael Schumacher, Webber dominated the race, surviving strong pressure from Nico Rosberg and a train of cars behind.

Asked to compare Sunday with his first win two years ago, Webber said 2012 was tougher.

“This one was harder,” said Webber. “Obviously, the strategy was very different but we knew that from the start of the race that it was going to be different to the 2010 victory if I managed to try to win here. The start of the Grand Prix was reasonably going to plan on the supersoft. Pretty happy with how long that tire went but we still couldn’t quite get the gaps that we were after in terms of the mid-pack.

“Obviously, Nico went for it, a bit shorter, and I was a little surprised that he went then because the tires were still going not too bad – but it was worth a go. And then the race started to take a little bit of a different phase because then we had…going to the prime tire – the soft – wasn’t our ideal. We had to run it, obviously, but it was a very tricky tire to get started.

“Seb (Sebastian Vettel, teammate) was in the groove and underway, and he was doing some very quick lap times in that part of the Grand Prix. And it was hard for us to get going, so I had to keep an eye on the Sebastian gap but also we needed to finish the Grand Prix on those tires. So when Seb pitted, then I could revert my concentration back to Nico. It was pretty good after that.”

Webber said that the rain in the closing laps didn’t make his life any easier.

“It’s always tricky when you’re the first guy arriving into corners when it’s sprinkling,” the Australian said. “So, again, on other tracks and in different conditions, a little bit of rain like that, you wouldn’t really have to back off so much for it but all of a sudden the car is wheel spinning, the front’s not biting, and around this place that’s not very encouraging – particularly when you’re in the lead with only 10 minutes to go in the race.

“So it required me then to really, really control the race and get the car home. The start was key, the pit stop was key, both of them went well. I did a little bit of work in between and we got an incredible victory that I’m very, very happy with. It’s great memories for me to win here twice, fair and square off the pole positions. So I’m happy. Nico kept me honest. I had him under control but he drove well, as well, and after that I didn’t see what else happened – but yeah, it was good Grand Prix.”

Webber admitted that the win was a good boost, especially after a troubled Spanish GP.

“It’s timely off the back of a difficult weekend for us in Barcelona, through a few small things that we got wrong, and ultimately we paid for that with no points in Barcelona,” the Red Bull driver said. “Up until then, generally, we’ve got the maximum out of most weekends, and that was the case this weekend. So that’s all we can keep doing is getting the most out of each weekend.

“In Shanghai, Nico was untouchable, Barcelona the Williams was quick. So we need to be scoring all the time and then when days like this come along, you just cannot let them go at all. You have to grab them with both hands and feet and hang on to them like hell. That was the plan today but consistency is nice, but wins are what wins championships – well, DNFs can shag championships, as well, but you need to win and then keep consistent.”

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.