Webber conceded following his win that there was an element of luck involved
in terms of getting everything right. “It’s up and down in qualifying and
the races are hard to predict,” he said. “How we judge how the grand prix is
going to unfold is not particularly straightforward.
“That is sometimes frustrating for us, because we’d like to push the limit and
get the most out of everything we have, but we have to leave margin in not
only strategy but also in driving.
“So it’s different to how it was in the past. Maybe we’ll have seven different
winners after Montreal, you never know. But hopefully we can get a bit of
routine now.
“I think we got the maximum; we absolutely got the maximum out of this
weekend. It was a very, very special victory for us today.”
Red Bull principal Christian Horner, whose team shrugged off the threat of a
protest to their car’s floor to win a third consecutive race around the
iconic street circuit, described Webber’s performance as “fantastic”.
“The hardest position is when you are leading a group, especially around
Monaco when it gets slippery because everyone else can judge their grip by
looking at what you are doing,” he said. “But Mark showed a lot of skill and
maturity and drove brilliantly to close out the win.
“I think all three victories here have been sweet. You don’t become triple
winners in Monte Carlo by luck. Mark has become a double winner and joins an
elite group.”
Despite his team’s continued struggles — Lewis Hamilton could only finish
fifth having started third while Jenson Button retired from 15th — McLaren’s
Martin Whitmarsh was not looking for excuses.
Whitmarsh said he did not agree with those who felt the racing had crossed the
line to ‘random’.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think it’s an enthralling sport at the moment.
A few years ago people were saying ‘aren’t these processional races so
predictable?’ Well, we certainly haven’t got a predictable season.
“It’s anyone’s to play for. We and Lewis and Jenson can win this year’s
championship. After six races I think that’s good for the sport. On balance
I’m sure people want a lack of predictability.
“You want to go each event not knowing who is going to win. You want to go
through the course of the weekend not knowing what’s going to happen in each
session.
“This was a race that was very difficult for all the reasons we know, in terms
of overtaking, but it was still a petty exciting race and that’s good. Every
one of our races this year has exciting.”