Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

2010 Japanese GP – Post-race press conference

2010 Japanese Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing returned to the victory dais at Suzuka today with Sebastian Vettel claiming his third race win of the year. Constantly at the top of the time sheets, Vettel was the dominant man all weekend and started the race from pole position. Teammate Mark Webber completed the Red Bull Racing domination by securing an comfortable looking second place. Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso took the final podium position.

With three races to go the title race now looks set to be a race between Webber, Vettel and Alonso. A solid haul of points saw Webber slightly extend his championship lead this weekend. He is now on 220pts, with both Alonso and Vettel close behind on 206pts.

The full post-race press conference transcript is available below.

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Singapore

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber is ready for the great atmosphere the night race at the Marina Bay street circuit provides. He’s looking forward to the support of all the Aussies who make their way to Singapore for this Grand Prix, too. There’ll even be a few AUSmotive readers in attendance, so let’s hope Mark can bring home a win for the lads.

As usual you can check out Mark’s preview lap after the break.

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber’s encore performance for Canberra Milk

Mark Webber - Canberra Milk kid

Back in March AUSmotive brought the world up to speed with the Canberra Milk TV commercial that was being broadcast on high rotation into Webber’s home town during the Australian Grand Prix. In that time the clip has registered over 75,000 views on YouTube and countless comments. Also in that time we’ve seen the emergence of the “Leaping Webber”. Well, now Mark is back with a second installment from Canberra Milk. Check it out after the break, it is simply sold gold viewing. Good on you Mark!

Categories
Motor Shows News Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber to headline Australian Festival of Speed

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Australia will be getting its own Festival of Speed later this year and Mark Webber will be the headline act. The event is scheduled for 28 November and will be held at Barbagallo Raceway, 50km north of Perth.

Not only will Webber be in attendance, but so will a team of Red Bull Racing mechanics and, crucially, they will be bringing an F1 car which Webber will drive at the event.

Other motorsport categories will be represented, including V8 Supercars, rallying, motorbikes, historics and more.

But it will be Webber who will draw the crowds. The Festival of Speed will be held two weeks after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final Formula One race of the year. If things go well for Mark on track between now and then it could be his first Australian appearance after being crowned F1 world champion. If so that should provide the impetus to really put this event on the Australian motorsport map.

The Australian Festival of Speed is promoted by the Australian Automobile Club and tickets are currently on sale, starting at $35 for adults and $20 for concession. You can visit the official website for more information, or read the press release after the break. Apparently this will be “The Fastest Day of Your Life.”

[via CarAdvice | Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Spa-Francorchamps

Mark Webber

Formula One’s mid-season break is almost over. That means it’s time for the Belgian Grand Prix. Mark is also back to tell us about Belgian sausages, rain and, of course, one of the best circuits on the F1 calendar. For a bird’s eye look at the Spa F1 circuit click here. The view from the Red Bull simulator can be seen after the break.

Let’s hope we see Webber leaping for joy late on Sunday night!

Categories
Formula 1 Motorsports

Formula One: Now more popular in Australia than V8 Supercars

Formula 1: 2010 Hungarian GP

Support for Formula One in Australia is currently riding a wave popularity, thanks largely to the exploits of local lad Mark Webber. The Australian, of course, is currently leading the drivers title race and is in with a real chance of being crowned this country’s first F1 World Champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

Despite this, many F1 fans might be surprised to learn that the television ratings for the sport have knocked the V8 Supercars off its perch as the most watched motorsport category in Australia.

Based on figures published in The Age numbers for the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, won by Webber, peaked at 345,000. Keep in mind the live broadcast was available on the digital only channel One HD. In contrast, viewing audiences for recent rounds of V8 Supercars have reportedly fallen below the 300,000 mark.

This figure represents a drop of more than 25% from V8 Supercar audiences from a couple of years back. Meanwhile, the introduction of the One HD channel in 2009 has given Australian audiences access to live telecasts for the majority of Grands Prix and qualifying sessions for the first time ever.

We shall have to wait and see how sustainable the popularity of F1 remains in future years when we’re unlikely to see an Australian leading the charge. For now, though, One HD, while far from perfect, must be quite content with the way things sit.

[Source: The Age via motorcentral | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

The Flav tips The Aussie for The Title

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing

Last year Flavio Briatore found himself in a bit of a pickle. Fixing a Formula One race tends to do that, I guess. At the time Mark Webber stood by his man, declaring he would not seek another manager if Briatore’s right to continue as Webber’s agent was taken away. Now, in return, Briatore has tipped Mark to win this year’s F1 world championship.

Speaking to Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, The Flav said Webber is the driver to keep an eye on, “Watch out, Webber is on his way to win the title: what he has done in Hungary on Sunday was phenomenal. But I’m not tipping Webber just because he is one of my drivers, I only state what everyone has seen from home.

“Mark is a driver capable of exceptional feats. He has now reached a maturity and inner calmness that can take him really far. In Hungary he was the first one understanding that he could take a risk in running for three-quarter distance on the soft tyres he had at the start. That was the winning move, but it also demonstrated how much he uses his brain, unlike many others.”

[via autosport.com]

Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 Hungarian Grand Prix in pictures

2010 Hungarian GP

The 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix; Red Bull Racing’s 100th GP, Mark Webber’s 150th GP and his 6th career victory. The Aussie now leads the drivers championship and Red Bull have finally reached the top of the constructors tree. There’s seven races left in 2010, can Mark and RBR maintain the rage?

Elsewhere, Michael drove his old pal Rubens up the wall. Sebastian had a mid-race nap and Robert drove into Adrian. Here’s a surprise, too; think of the six drivers from the new teams (Lotus, Virgin and HRT), if they were running their own mini-championship who do you think would be leading the charge? A gold star for you if you picked out the name Karun Chandhok.

[Thanks to Micky for the Chandhok tip]

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber wins Hungarian GP

2010 Hunagrian GP

Mark Webber has just won an extraordinary Hungarian Grand Prix, in doing so he has reclaimed the lead of the 2010 world drivers championship. It was a fortunate turn of events that, in the end, delivered Webber a comfortable win from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and his Red Bull Racing teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel started the race on pole, with Webber in P2 and Alonso P3. The Ferrari man jumped Webber off the line and very nearly took the lead from Vettel into Turn 1. Vettel was able to fend off Alonso’s challenge and the notoriously difficult to pass Hungaroring looked like providing another boring procession.

However, on lap 15, before teams were planning to bring in their drivers for scheduled pit stops some debris from one of the Force India cars was positioned precariously in the middle of the track. The Safety Car was deployed and the entire field took advantage to make their compulsory tyre change; with the exception of Webber, Rubens Barichello (Williams) and Jarno Trulli (Virgin Racing). Chaos reigned in pit lane, too, with a crash between Robert Kubica (Renault) and Vintonio Liuzzi (Force India), a loose wheel from Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes bouncing down the lane among the teams and cars everywhere.

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Hungaroring

Mark Webber

It’s the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, held just outside of Budapest. That means Mark is thinking of a tight twisty circuit, a long race and the ladeeez are easy on the optic nerve, too. Well, that’s what Mark said. Don’t believe me; then check out his virtual preview after the break.

Categories
Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Hockenheim

Mark Webber drives virtual lap of Hockenheim

This weekend Mark is thinking about a lot of German drivers on the grid, a huge history and repeating his 2009 success. A matching pair of German Grand Prix victories at the Nürburgring and Hockenheim would make a nice set, don’t you think.

Categories
Ferrari Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz Red Bull Racing Renault

2010 British Grand Prix in pictures

2010 British Grand Prix

With victory at Silverstone overnight Mark Webber became the first driver to win three races in 2010. And, following that qualifying wing-swap controversy with teammate Sebastian Vettel, what a satisfying win it was too.

Webber was determined to take the lead by the first corner and after the race he explained, “It was pretty straightforward. I made a good start. I was very keen to make it my corner and it worked out well for me, so it was good.”

The Australian was still firm in his views when asked in the post-race press conference about the situation from qualifying, “Yesterday was a really unique situation. It was the first time that the team had really had one component. Honestly I would never have signed a contract again for next year if I believed that that was the way it was going to be going forward. That’s why I was disappointed yesterday and was honest with you guys. Let’s see how it goes in the future but I just keep doing what I do and hopefully it’s enough.”

The complete transcript from the press-conference is now available at Formula1.com. Also, selected team and driver quotes recorded after the race, including words from Vettel, can be read as well.

After the jump a set of Red Bull Racing images captured from race day and qualifying are available. Images from other teams to follow soon.

UPDATE: SMH.com.au brings us some amazing allegations of intra-team rivalry at Red Bull Racing: “Webber’s mechanics were said to have removed the ‘old’ front wing that Webber had been forced to race with and waved it at Vettel’s side of the garage.”

UPDATE II: New pics from McLaren, Mercedes GP, Williams, Sauber, Force India, Toro Rosso, Renault and Ferrari added below.