Mark Webber said that his final lap in qualifying today was his ‘limit’ and ‘a pretty good lap’, and is planning to push very hard tomorrow to convert his pole position into his first win of 2011.
“I thought on my in-lap, 'if someone gets me, they deserve it', as I don't think I could have got much more out of it – it was my limit and a pretty good lap,” said Webber, who is now celebrating his second consecutive pole position at the Nürburgring. “It was very satisfying to see no one got me there at the end, it's quite an anxious wait for those thirty seconds. I will be in there pushing very hard tomorrow.”
Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, endured his worst qualifying session of the year and, for the first time all season, will start from behind the front row of the grid… way down in P3.
“It was tough session,” said the world champion, who is yet to win his home race in Formula 1. “I think we had a good recovery, as yesterday I didn't really find my way, but the car felt much better this morning. I think we could have been a bit quicker in qualifying here and there, but Mark did a good lap and I think we still have a good chance from third on the grid.
“It will be a long race and you never know what can happen with the weather here. Rain is forecast, but we don't know how much we will have and when. However, in the end it doesn't really matter, the most important thing is that we have a solid race and the target is to win, which is not impossible from third – it's the clean side of the track and we go from there.
“I'm looking forward to tomorrow – it doesn't happen too often that you have so many people coming here and supporting the German drivers, so I will make sure I enjoy the race tomorrow.”
Team principal Christian Horner noted that this pole position is a particular milestone for Red Bull, and congratulated Webber on a great effort.
“It was a fantastic performance by Mark, with him building all the way through qualifying to produce a really great lap at the end,” Horner said. “It was very, very tight with Lewis, Sebastian and Fernando throughout the three qualifying sessions and it was all going to be down to getting the perfect lap at the end – and Mark produced a phenomenal lap. He obviously likes it round here and has happy memories from his first grand prix victory two year ago. Sebastian lines up in P3 and is on the right side of the grid tomorrow.
“It was an excellent team performance and first and third, our tenth pole of the year and our thirtieth overall, is a good start to the weekend.”
I thought on my in-lap, 'if someone gets me, they deserve it', as Idon't think I could have got much more out of it – it was my limit and a pretty good lap. It was verysatisfying to see no one got me there at the end, it's quite an anxious wait for those thirty seconds. I will bein there pushing very hard tomorrow.”
