Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start from the back of the grid following the fuel pump issue which eliminated him from Q2.
Despite seeming to have had a clear speed advantage over teammate Vettel during the free practice and Q1 sessions, the issue forced the Australian to park his Red Bull during Q2 and saw him originally line up 14th for tomorrow’s race.
However, the team conceded in a statement from the stewards that the car did not have enough fuel on board to provide the mandatory post-qualifying fuel sample and saw Webber have his qualifying times deleted.
“Only 150ml of fuel was on board which was insufficient to provide the one-litre sample and drive the car back to the pits under its own power."
The same problem also befell teammate Vettel in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner conceded that the situation was ‘disappointing’ following the steward’s decision, but remained confident in Webber’s ability to fight his way back through the field.
“It's disappointing to have an issue but these things happen - we've seen it with other teams as well.” he said. “[But] the most important thing is to understand what has happened.”
“The good thing about the race here is that, particularly with the strategies, it is open and Mark's demonstrated the year before last he can come from a lowly grid position and still be right up there by the end of the race."
Despite seeming to have had a clear speed advantage over teammate Vettel during the free practice and Q1 sessions, the issue forced the Australian to park his Red Bull during Q2 and saw him originally line up 14th for tomorrow’s race.
However, the team conceded in a statement from the stewards that the car did not have enough fuel on board to provide the mandatory post-qualifying fuel sample and saw Webber have his qualifying times deleted.
“Only 150ml of fuel was on board which was insufficient to provide the one-litre sample and drive the car back to the pits under its own power."
The same problem also befell teammate Vettel in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner conceded that the situation was ‘disappointing’ following the steward’s decision, but remained confident in Webber’s ability to fight his way back through the field.
“It's disappointing to have an issue but these things happen - we've seen it with other teams as well.” he said. “[But] the most important thing is to understand what has happened.”
“The good thing about the race here is that, particularly with the strategies, it is open and Mark's demonstrated the year before last he can come from a lowly grid position and still be right up there by the end of the race."