Mark Webber reflects on his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull

The career of Sebastian Vettel was crowned with many successes. Four world championship titles, fifty-three victories and even fifty-seven pole positions. The German has this track record largely with Red Bull. It was within the Austrian team that the 35-year-old driver experienced his longest collaboration with a teammate in the person of Mark Webber. If on their passage, the duo of Red Bull drivers won everything, they also distinguished themselves for their battles on the track. From the crash at the Turkish Grand Prix in 2010 to the famous “Multi 21” instruction.

« Certainly, he really liked the arrival of Pirelli and he was an absolute master for many of us during those years. And there were a lot of regulations that he certainly worked incredibly hard to understand and he did a great job », analyzes Mark Webber for the F1 website.

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If the Australian wanted to pay tribute to his former teammate explaining that the German had made the right choice, he could not help but return to these moments of friction from 2009 to 2013. " I mean, God, we're fine now. It was obviously quite tense when you are fighting for the championship together up front. We had a few years where I was in the running; a few years when I wasn't », recalls the Australian.

Webber sees change in mindset in Vettel

Like Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton after them, having two drivers within the same team fighting for the championship is never an easy situation to manage. “ It's always a little tense. It's easier to be teammates when you're fighting for points. But obviously, when it's for championships and victories it's a little more difficult. Which is obviously well emphasized in many different scenarios in sports. We weren't the only ones in this scenario », Points out the former Red Bull driver.

But since his epic victory with the Austrian team, Sebastian Vettel has evolved. A change that Mark Webber has clearly noted. “ Now he's obviously changed his mindset, right? As his career has progressed, especially over the last year or so, he has changed his mind about what motivates him and what he wants from the next stage of his life, and that's okay “, explains Mark Webber. A process that the Australian has also gone through since announcing his retirement from Formula 1 in 2013. What is less certain, however, is to see Sebastian Vettel follow in the Australian's footsteps by turning towards a new discipline after car. Concerned by ecological issues, the Formula E could be a solution to reconcile your passion and your values. 

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