The stewards have looked dimly upon the incident as they have punished the 36
year-old with a three-place penalty for next Sunday’s race in Bahrain.
The collision forced Webber into the pits for a front wing and tyre change as
he had punctured the front left.
However, on Webber’s next lap he incurred further woes as he began touring,
reaching the hairpin at turn 14 where the left-rear wheel worked loose,
finally bringing him to a halt.
Suggested to Horner there is currently a conspiracy against Webber, it
provoked an angry response.
“It’s complete rubbish, forget conspiracy,” said Horner. “We’re all
about trying to get two cars to the finish as high as we can.
“Anybody who thinks there is a conspiracy here against either driver does not
know what they are looking at.”
Pointed out to Horner that Webber was not as vehemently dismissive when such a
theory was put to him yesterday, Horner replied: “Mark knows exactly what
happened – exactly!
“That’s it. There is no conspiracy.”
Horner, however, will not know the exact reason why Webber’s wheel fell off
until after an investigation of the car .
“Until we get the car back we’re not too sure,” said Horner. “Prior
to that he had an incident with Jean-Eric and damaged the front wing and we
had a puncture on the left front, so all four wheels were changed and the
nose was changed.
“The report from the gun man – who had extra time because it wasn’t a hectic
stop due to the nose change – was that the right-rear was secure and done up
tightly.
“So it’s difficult to make any assumptions. Whether it’s as a result of the
incident, the contact, I don’t know.
“Unlikely I would have thought, but until we have all the information it’s
difficult to draw any conclusions.”
Horner has no doubts Webber will bounce back strongly from two tough weekends.
“He was driving very well and was coming back through the field after we had
made some big changes overnight to assist him to do that,” added Horner.
“The way his strategy was going, it was working very well for him and he was
back in the thick of it.
“The contact was unfortunate and then to have to retire the car was even more
unfortunate.
“But he’ll be fine. He’s a tough competitor.”
Edited by Vicki Hodges