Webber: Vettel needed fresh motivation in F1

By Feb 26, 2015, 9:00 AM EST
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Former Red Bull driver Mark Webber believes that ex-teammate Sebastian Vettel needed to find fresh motivation in Formula 1, prompting his move to Ferrari for the 2015 season.

Vettel first became associated with the Red Bull brand back in 1999, rising up the motorsport ladder with its backing before going on to claim four consecutive world titles for the team between 2010 and 2013.

However, he opted to activate a clause in his contract to walk away from the team at the end of 2014, switching to Scuderia Ferrari for the new year.

Speaking to Australia’s Herald Sun ahead of the opening race of the F1 season, Webber feels that Vettel had been keen to fly the nest and move out of the Red Bull programme before his difficult 2014 season.

“Seb’s not a silly guy,” Webber said. “He realised that he needed fresh motivation and a new change and I think the decision was made very early, probably before the season even started to be honest.

“The line is not ‘they [Red Bull] won’t miss Vettel’, the line is that when he wants to do something else and be in a different environment, then he is better off going somewhere he might feel he will get more out of himself.”

Vettel has been replaced at Red Bull by former Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat, who alongside Daniel Ricciardo forms the team’s most inexperienced line-up in its 11-year F1 history.

Although Webber believes that the team lacks depth, he thinks that Ricciardo can follow on from his impressive 2014 campaign to push the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg this year.

“That’s definitely a question for the team halfway through the season, whether they are missing some of that experience,” he said.

“They are lacking a little bit of continuity at Red Bull now,” Webber said. “There are a few people who have left the team, so that will be interesting to see how technically good the car is over the course of a full season, not just at the start.

“They will be a solid outfit and to match last year will be another good achievement for Daniel. He will want more. He will want to fight for the championship and Lewis and Nico will be the hardest nuts to crack.”

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”