SM
Newcastle vs. West Ham: 15 hrs 27 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Mark Webber "surprised" by three-stop decision

:Headline: Mark Webber 'surprised' by three-stop decision: ID:110919: from db_amp
Mark Webber admits that he was surprised by Red Bull's decision to call him into the pits three times at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Mark Webber has admitted that he was surprised when Red Bull asked him to do a third pit stop as he finished seconds behind teammate Sebastian Vettel at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Vettel overtook Webber and then third-placed Romain Grosjean at Suzuka to claim his fifth straight race victory and move a step closer to securing a fourth consecutive World Championship.

It appeared that Webber would be Red Bull's best chance of overtaking Grosjean when the Lotus driver led, but the Australian was called into the pits three times compared to Vettel's two stops.

The retiring 37-year-old went on to pass Grosjean on the penultimate lap, but he has admitted that he was initially confused when his team called him into the pitwall on the third occasion, which allowed his German colleague to pick up more points in his chase of the title.

"I didn't think the battle was going to be with Sebastian at the end to be honest," he told reporters. "It was pretty much done when we didn't do enough damage on the three-stop against Seb's pace on the two. We tried to race Romain at the end and then in the end we switched to a three. So I was the meat in a sandwich trying to beat Romain on a two and then all of a sudden we've decided to do the three.

"I was a little bit surprised. I asked was it the right thing to do because I felt we could get to the lap we were looking to get to. Of course Seb was two or three laps longer, four laps maybe, but in terms of the target lap that we looked to get to the two-stop [window] I thought was achievable.

"But in the end Seb did a good race, the strategy worked out perfect. The three was not absolutely ridiculous but it's a bit more high risk and you've got to clear people obviously [on the track]. So piggy in the middle trying to do both and in the end we got it back to where we were in terms of position, but obviously Seb jumped both of us [Webber and Grosjean]."

Vettel now leads Fernando Alonso by 90 points in the drivers' standings, with 100 left to compete for this season, starting in India next week.

amp_article__110919 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2013-10-13 19:33:58:
html db last update - 2013-10-13 19:33:58 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Sebastian Vettel

Click here for more stories about Red Bull

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool1210112481631
2Manchester CityMan City127232217523
3Chelsea126422314922
4Arsenal126422112922
5Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton126422116522
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs1261527131419
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest125431513219
8Aston Villa125431919019
9Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
10Fulham125341717018
11Brentford125252222017
12Manchester UnitedMan Utd124441313016
13Bournemouth124351617-115
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Everton122551017-711
16Leicester CityLeicester122461523-810
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves122372028-89
18Ipswich TownIpswich121651323-109
19Crystal Palace121561017-78
20Southampton121110924-154
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .