Mark Webber's starts.

[raikkonen]

It seems to me, every race Mark always gets jumped off the line. More often than not he loses 1-3 spots, and rarely ever makes up any off the start. Its all good and well to have the best car, but losing places from the get go is always going to make things harder for him - perfect illustration in last nights race, getting stuck behind Alonso.

Look at Vettel, he starts from pole, and usually stays there the whole race. I think if MW had stayed infront during last nights race he would of been in a position to challenge for the victory.

Is it just me, or have others noticed this too?

 

[Gak Attack]

Yep, has always been his biggest weakness. RBR really need to fix his KERS as well, had the speed to easily get past Alonso but Alonso was able to just kick his in whenever Mark had a chance to pass. He has two problems with it as well.. firstly he is just a slow starter and secondly he never defends hard enough. Take the last start for example, he should of made sure Vettel didn't get by him once he decided to move across to block... make Seb decide to break or not, don't be the one to back off.. Vettel is unlikey to risk contact with his current situation but Mark played the safe option there. Otherwise give up the spot to the sister car and make sure Alonso or Hamilton don't have a chance.

 

[davis_756]

The problem with mark is he gets on the start line and thinks to himself, "I better not lose any positions down to turn 1"

The other drivers think to themselves "How many guys can I sneak ahead of to snatch a victory/podium"

He is far too defensive and always has been, he use to crash 3-4 times a year off the starts simply because he is defending into turn 1 to much.

 

[raikkonen]

Seems quite a valid point actually. If he wasnt so paranoid about Vettel in Spain, and stayed on the inside, he would of had Alonso boxed in with no where to go. I usually sit there watching the starts and my mindset is how many places he will lose, its never how many is he going to gain. Hopefully he whacks it on pole in Monaco again, Im going to be interested to see if these Pirelli tyres affect the race as dramatically in Monaco as they do elsewhere, considering its so hard to pass on the streets around there.

 

[OzBomber]

I didn't think his start was that bad in Spain, Alonso just got off to a ridiculously quick start.

His problem with his start was that he defended Vettel way too much. As was said before, if he wasn't focussed on his team mate, then at worse he would've been behind Alonso and eventually would've overtaken him.

The RBR has always seemed to have problems at the start, both Vettel and Webber had some shocking starts last year, but yes, it's probably the most flawed part of his driving.

 

[FishingRick04]

I didn't think his start was that bad in Spain, Alonso just got off to a ridiculously quick start.

His problem with his start was that he defended Vettel way too much. As was said before, if he wasn't focussed on his team mate, then at worse he would've been behind Alonso and eventually would've overtaken him.

The RBR has always seemed to have problems at the start, both Vettel and Webber had some shocking starts last year, but yes, it's probably the most flawed part of his driving.

I think Marks Chin provides too much drag

Seriously it sucks and it's something just expected now. When he has tried to defend harder he's been whacked or penalised by stewards at times.

It frustrates me how Vettel had to attack so hard and allow both of them to be vulnerable, they locked out the grid both should do everything to keep 1 and 2 by first corner.

 

[OzBomber]

I think Marks Chin provides too much drag

Seriously it sucks and it's something just expected now. When he has tried to defend harder he's been whacked or penalised by stewards at times.

It frustrates me how Vettel had to attack so hard and allow both of them to be vulnerable, they locked out the grid both should do everything to keep 1 and 2 by first corner.

I'm 100% sure you wouldn't have said that last year at Silverstone when Webber squeezed Vettel off the track. The good thing if he manages to get pole at Monaco is it's almost impossible to overtake at the start.

 

[rayven]

Two points this year.

Alonso is an extremely good starter

Redbull are having issues with Kers and its not always there and if it is they can only use it partialy.

 

[SebastianVettel]

Redbull are having issues with Kers and its not always there and if it is they can only use it partialy.

Other than Australia where both didn't run it, and Malaysia where Mark's malfunctioned, the KERS has been pretty good off the start.

AMWs problems are with the initial phase, and Seb's have been a bit so-so at times as well. It's never looked an easy car to get off the line, even 2009, 2010 it wasn't great. Not sure if it's just a characteristic of the cars, or whether they're going the wrong way with clutch settings. Add those things to Mark's reputation as being a pretty ordinary starter anyway, there's problems.

Alonso's Ferrari being a rocket doesn't help - the initial getaways he's had at both Spain and Monaco have been incredible. Particularly at Monaco - from the very dirty side of the grid with barely any distance to the first corner he was very nearly second.