Tuesday, May 31, 2005
not very Happy"
5/29/2005 7:01:54 PM ADT (GMT -3)
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Mark Webber?s European Grand Prix at Nurburging lasted only the distance to the first corner on the opening lap of 60, when he and McLaren-Mercedes driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, collided. Several cars became embroiled in the incident but Webber was the only lasting casualty, the BMW Williams driver sliding off into the gravel with damaged front left suspension and into early retirement.
Despite an initial good start at the lights, another poor run down to the first corner left Webber vulnerable, the 28-year old Australian having to do everything within his power to defend his position while those around him attacked.
?Obviously I?m very disappointed not to have been able to build on our result in Monaco last week,? said Webber. ?But, what we did demonstrate at Nurburgring was that the pace of the FW27 is certainly very respectable and reliable, and we can now begin to close the gap to McLaren and Renault.?
?I was very happy how qualifying went considering the strategy I was on, and so it was a shame we weren?t able to realize that potential ? it would have been an interesting race. Going out on the first lap is always the most painful thing to do. I had to protect my position heavily from Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso and when I arrived at turn one, there wasn?t quite enough room for both Juan Pablo and I, and unfortunately I made slight contact with the right rear tyre of the McLaren and that was enough to damage my front left suspension.?
Mark Webber
