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Webber's hard work rewarded with points finish in Hungary

Mon 01-08 2005

Mark Webber made a welcome return to the points in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring (Budapest), finishing seventh after starting from a lowly 16th position. His BMW WilliamsF1 team-mate, Nick Heidfeld, finished one spot ahead of him in 6th place after starting 12th.

Although both drivers benefited from two hectic opening laps which saw both Red Bull cars wiped out; Christian Klien’s car rolling at the first corner after contact with a Sauber, while a lap later David Coulthard collected the debris from Fernando Alonso’s car and crashed heavily directly behind Webber, almost running into the back of the Australian’s FW27 in the process. Other early casualties included Rubens Barrichello and Alonso who both had to pit to replace damaged parts, this allowing Webber into 12th spot and Heidfeld into 8th.

However, from thereon in, it was a case of sheer hard work and determination that came into play as Webber fought his way further up the order. Although his pace was slowed in the first stint by the Sauber of Jacques Villeneuve, he bided his time and waited for the first round of pit stops to begin. The Canadian driver eventually pitted on lap 26 and the extra two laps spent in clear air before Webber had to pit, was just what the BMW Williams driver needed to leapfrog not only Villeneuve but also the other Sauber of Felipe Massa who had been running ahead of his team-mate.

Once the race settled down, Webber emerged in 11th spot, 3.6s behind Rubens Barrichello who, in turn, was closely following Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato. Barrichello however, was about to make his second stop, and Webber moved back into 10th place, 3.4s behind Fisichella. Webber drove hard as he set about reducing the deficit and had moved to within two seconds when the Renault driver ran off the track in front of him. In a flash Webber was through and quickly had Sato within his sights and coupled with the retirement of Juan Pablo Montoya from the lead, Webber was now into eighth position.

The gap between Webber and Sato continued to fall and when the Japanese BAR driver pitted on lap 50, there was only 1.2s between them. Webber put in another string of fast laps before he had to pit again on lap 55 and when he re-emerged from the pits, he had done enough to jump ahead of Sato to confirm his seventh spot.

The final stint of the race was just a matter of maintaining his position, Webber completing the 70 lap race run in scorching temperatures in good physical shape.

“It’s a nice way to go into the three week break; with some points in the bag,” said a relieved Webber afterwards. “The first stint was the toughest for me as I was stuck behind Jacques. It’s impossible to get close around here, so I decided I would wait a bit, save the tyres and then push hard when Jacques pitted. I was very confident of jumping both Saubers.

“The second stint was a bit better for me. I came out behind Sato, Fisichella and Barrichello then Sam came on the radio and told me it was game on with these guys, so I had to push hard again. Giancarlo made things a bit easier when he ran off in front of me and then I had to chase after Takuma to try and jump him after the second stop. It worked well and after that, the final stint was easy.”

Press release
Mark Webber Media

Categorieën: Jacques Villeneuve

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