Webber form 'surprised' Vettel in 2010 - Lauda
Mark Webber's form in 2010 "surprised" Sebastian Vettel, who thought he was the number one driver at Red Bull. That is the summation of outspoken former triple world champion Niki Lauda, ahead of the final seven races of the 2010 season. "Mark ...
Mark Webber's form in 2010 "surprised" Sebastian Vettel, who thought he was the number one driver at Red Bull.
That is the summation of outspoken former triple world champion Niki Lauda, ahead of the final seven races of the 2010 season.
"Mark has shown a great performance and that has surprised Sebastian," the Austrian great is quoted by Motorsport Aktuell.
"His (Vettel's) disadvantage was to see himself as the number one," added Lauda.
Vettel, 23, is widely regarded as the young star of the pace-setting Red Bull team, but it is Australian Webber with two more race wins and the lead of the drivers' world championship.
"Vettel assumed that he has the full support of the team. But Webber has more points and team orders no longer exist," Lauda said.
Lauda, 61, knows the problem well, when he assumed he was McLaren's number one but then found his teammate Alain Prost with superior pace.
He advises Vettel: "He must look reality in the eye and free himself from the idea that he is the number one."
Lauda also thinks Red Bull's team management is to blame.
"Their failure was to count on Sebastian from the beginning, because he was the team's young and super-talented man. This has disturbed the teamwork.
"Sebastian's problem now is how fast Mark can go with this car. He (Webber) was not the favourite from the start, but he has done an incredible performance," added Lauda.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Clark, Senna, Antonelli – How the grand chelem age record has evolved
How Anthoine Hubert’s death changed Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Antonelli compared to Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel after stunning 2026 F1 start
F1 2026 mid-season grades: McLaren starts on back foot but makes rapid progress
Could McLaren follow Red Bull’s path with its own F1 engine – and should it?
The subtle but significant changes McLaren will make for its 2027 F1 car
Winners and losers from a classic Richmond NASCAR Cup race
Guenther Steiner admits he stayed at Haas F1 team "two years too long"
Mercedes: "Too early" to favour Kimi Antonelli in F1 2026 title fight
The team orders debacle that made for a controversial Formula E title decider
Could McLaren follow Red Bull’s path with its own F1 engine – and should it?
Top 10 rookie seasons in F1
Why F1 shouldn’t be hiding its most interesting characters
100 not out: Alex Albon on Williams’s desire to atone for its 2026 struggles
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments