Webber fumes at slow-moving Sato
Mark Webber has criticised Takuma Sato after the under-pressure Japanese driver held him up in qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix today.
Formula One’s current qualifying system sees drivers complete just one flying lap on a supposedly clear track, with enough time given for the preceding driver to return to the pits.
But Sato, who looks certain to be dropped as a BAR-Honda race driver at the end of this season, ran wide on his fast lap and dithered on his way back to the pits.
He drove so slowly Webber caught him at turn 10 and was forced to overtake, costing him valuable time which would have lifted him ahead of Williams team-mate Nick Heidfeld and into sixth.
Sato has been sent to the back of the grid for his blunder and Webber had little sympathy.
He said: “I came round there and I thought he had a problem in his middle sector. I thought he had a problem and would do his best to get out of the way.
“He didn’t have a problem and he tried in the end to get out of the way. But I had to go to the inside and lost a quarter of a second.
“They said there were communications problems but even still if he can’t talk to the team, it’s his job [to keep out of the way].
“On your in-lap the main priority is fuel and where the other guy is. He stuffed his qualifying lap up, he saved a lot of fuel and he stuffed my lap up. It’s a very important corner to get right and it’s even harder to get right when there’s traffic.”
Sato, who has apologised to Webber, blamed a radio problem for the incident, claiming: “The team were unable to tell me his position on the track.”
Webber has backed the stewards’ decision to discount Sato’s qualifying time - which had put him 14th.
“The best thing to do is penalise them heavily so it doesn’t happen,” he added.
“You should never be in that situation. Either you’ve got a problem and pull off, get out of the way or if you haven’t got a problem, get back to the pits. I was 28 seconds behind him when I started my lap and I caught him in probably 50 seconds.”
