Webber's podium - will it ever come?

[GTRMagic]

I watched the race live on f1.com... its sometimes better to see that so you can see competitive speeds.... anyway, Heidfeld's car went off the boil like Webber's did, and he let a couple of cars past until settling into his fair-to-muddling laptimes... but they were way off....

Mr Webber would have secured a 3rd/4th in Malaysia had he not become a canoeist... so the proximity to the podium isnt the issue.

It is no wonder though that BMW is looking to spread its wings!

[mixxer]

Podiums will happen, so will race wins if the car is good enough. MW certainly has the talent to win as do most of the drivers in F1, otherwise they wouldn't be there.

[vatuloa]

When he is over his rib injury and when he is off pain killers he will be in a position to challenge better. The spin would not have done his ribs any good and with the cars balance after the spin he was lucky to get points

[BootsOntheSide]

Remember how many times Jenson came close to podium but missed out, usually for reasons beyond his control. Once he got one, he didn't stop for months. The Williams looks good enough to get a opodium when others have an off day, especially as they seem confident of developing the car more than anyone else.

The spin was a strange one, because it was clearly on the exit of 8 ranther than the entry to 9, so the brakes can't've been the cause, and the tyres are unlikely to be at faul as well. The gearbox hydraulics may ahve plunged him into an unexpected gear without warning, but it'd strange for that to only happen once all race. The most likely conclusion has to be 'driver error', but we can't know for sure.

[mixxer]

Marks car looked very stiff in the rear and twitched quite a few times thankfully it only got away from him the once, the RH rear tyre had a ring of blisters at the first stop so I would say it was a tyre related problem.

edit : He, like Pedro, was lucky to finish, on any other track he would've finished in the litter

[mac]

It's only been three races guys!!!

He would have had that podium had Fisichella not locked up and crashed into him in Malaysia.

It will happen in the not-too-distant future.

[Don K]

Webber is doing better than I expected.


Before the start of the season, I thought he would get his first podium either during the second half of this season, or during next season.

But now I think he will get his first podium this year.

[T.T.]

I'm not sure he is as good as people are giving him credit for. He is capable of winning races but so are a lot of other drivers out there - maybe he will prove me wrong - we will see. I'd rate him an equal to Eddie Irvine at the moment.

[Chappelli]

I think he's done enough to prove he's a competent F1 driver. I'm not sure he's a superstar... especially when you consider he hasn't exactly blown the door handles off Heidfield (who is after all just a ringer).

Certainly if you called Williams one of the top three teams of the past few years, Webber has certainly not proved himself worthy of being the #1 driver of a top team in his first three runs in a top car.

[hgmonaro]

hindsight is going to be a wonderful thing!

[thejester]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Hmm,

So near yet so far. Saw the aggression against PDLR but he shouldn't have been there in the first place. If that sounds harsh its not meant to be but jeez, when is this guy going to get his obviously talented act together?

I agree.

Talent, speed, agression. Great Williams driver qualities, but...seems like he'll have to control his temper to get that podium.

Just a shot in the dark, but I reckon his first trip to the podium will be to the top step.

[browney]

Originally Posted by esorniloc

Given that he is so highly rated why has it taken this long?

I don't think the guy is a god or anything (we already know that is valentino rossi!) but 'this long' is only 3 races in a car that even has a posibility of a top 3 finish. He has been at Minardi (MINARDI!!!) and Jaguar.

[ausracefan]

My guess is that it will come in Monaco, as he always seems to put down some excellent qualifying performances, because we all no its next to impossible to pass around that circuit.

[HSE2]

Good thing he isn't racing with broken ribs or anything. Shame to see Nick go backwards like he did too. Very unfortunate that. You could nearly be blamed for thinking the cars weren't quite there.

[mac]

Originally Posted by HSE2

Good thing he isn't racing with broken ribs or anything. Shame to see Nick go backwards like he did too. Very unfortunate that. You could nearly be blamed for thinking the cars weren't quite there.

SARCASM ALERT!!!!!

ALL READERS PLEASE NOTE THAT THE POST ABOVE APPEARS TO BE OF A SARCASTIC NATURE.

[dsg]

Lets see. In the first race in a brand new car, both he and the car were not fast enough pure and simple.

In the second race another driver lost control and collided with him and he retired. His team mate in an almost identical car inherited the position and went on to score a podium.

In his third race the car wasn’t up to the job and based on lap times had he not spun, both Ralf and Kimi would have probably passed him anyway, as Pedro did eventually.

So based on this history would suggest something will always happen and Mark will never score a podium and unfortunately it appears he is all washed up.

On second thoughts maybe we should let him race THREE MORE TIMES just to be sure.

Now JV on the other hand……….

[Glen]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

I watched the race live on f1.com... its sometimes better to see that so you can see competitive speeds.... anyway, Heidfeld's car went off the boil like Webber's did, and he let a couple of cars past until settling into his fair-to-muddling laptimes... but they were way off....

Mr Webber would have secured a 3rd/4th in Malaysia had he not become a canoeist... so the proximity to the podium isnt the issue.

It is no wonder though that BMW is looking to spread its wings!

The issue was not the car going OFF the boil - the reverse in fact - Williams had to turn the engines right down because they were off the end of their cooling capacity. Fair enough, that's a car issue, and a direct consequence of having the smallest sidepods in the field - but all teams have to compromise their performance over two races... maybe McLaren will pay the price in Imola. I'm still quite pleased with the car's speed, and very much pleased with the drivers, who are both ding a superb job.

[Gabrio]

None of Williams drivers are WC winning material anyway, seems to me.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Gabrio

None of Williams drivers are WC winning material anyway, seems to me.

In the past Williams have suceeded in building cars good enough for vastly more average drivers to win the Championship in - Webber is without question in a higher category than their two most recent Champions for example.

[BootsOntheSide]

There's nothing to make me think that Mark is as good as Damon yet. And it's a long time since Williams built a car that was even remotely championship-capable.

I think Mark will get a podium this season. He's proabbly the best of all the current drivers who have yet to score one, and jsut needs to put in a good race when the car is good and he has the luck.

[Knowlesy]

Yeah, Mark isn't a patch on Damon at this moment in time.

That can change, of course.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by Glen

Webber is without question in a higher category than their two most recent Champions for example.

At this stage of his career, Mark hasn't done anything to suggest he is in a higher category.

[Glen]

I just get that feeling about Webber, I really do. Those virtually inexplicable laps, to me, are an indicator of something potentially brilliant - Alonso has that quality too, but he has now got the equipment to fully demonstrate what it means - I can only hope that Williams continue to lift their game and Webber gets the same chance.

[fordo]

The local commentators here in Aus were saying during on of the TV transmission ad breaks that both the Williams cars were apparently very twitchy in the rear so they were running very high downforce on the rear wings and as a result were up to 14kph slower in a straight line than even Karithikian. (Sorry about the spelling of his name) Thats a big handicap to both drivers.

[Adam43]

Well Karthikeyan was the fastest (in Q2)!
http://www.formula1.com/race/result/...ap/734/18.html
Although the Williams were slow.

Pos  No  Driver  Time of Day  Speed 
         
1  19  Narain Karthikeyan  10:38:09  330.6 
2  5  Fernando Alonso  11:21:23  330.6 
3  1  Michael Schumacher  11:17:23  330.0 
4  15  Christian Klien  11:03:40  328.8 
5  12  Felipe Massa  10:59:46  327.9 
6  14  David Coulthard  10:48:02  327.7 
7  9  Kimi Räikkönen  11:05:41  326.9 
8  6  Giancarlo Fisichella  11:13:14  326.0 
9  10  Pedro de la Rosa  11:01:43  324.6 
10  4  Takuma Sato  10:50:14  324.0 
11  3  Jenson Button  10:52:29  324.0 
12  20  Patrick Friesacher  10:32:04  323.0 
13  16  Jarno Trulli  11:19:27  322.8 
14  21  Christijan Albers  10:34:00  321.2 
15  8  Nick Heidfeld  11:15:14  321.2 
16  17  Ralf Schumacher  10:54:25  320.7 
17  7  Mark Webber  11:07:53  320.6 
18  18  Tiago Monteiro  10:36:06  320.5 
19  2  Rubens Barrichello  10:46:00  316.4 
20  11  Jacques Villeneuve  10:40:13  314.3