Not Bad For Number 2

After crossing the line as victor of the Silverstone Grand Prix in 2010, Mark Webber was heard saying  over the radio, “Not bad for a number two driver”.  Webber’s snide comment may have been linked to the suspected favouritism for his team mate, Sebastian Vettel, by his Red Bull team during the 2010 World Championship.  Whether there was favouritism or not has been a hot topic of discussion and is certainly not limited to the Red Bull Racing team; who can forget the famous, “Fernando is faster than you”, incident?  What is not up for discussion, however, is Mark’s developing fondness for the number 2.

We have now got a second double-winner of this phenomenal 2012 season, his name is Mark Webber.  Monaco was the setting for Mark’s first victory of the season; a race he controlled from start to chequered flag.  The victory is also his second at Silverstone, the first being the aforementioned, slightly controversial, 2010 edition.  The 25 points that Mark received for winning the race secure his position at number 2 in the Championship, 13 points behind the man who finished second this weekend, Fernando Alonso.  In an uncanny coincidence, Alonso is the only other person to have won 2 races this year, his first victory coming in the second Grand Prix of the year.  I’m telling you, this is spooky.

As we move on to Hockenheim in 2 weeks time Mark will be looking to win his second German Grand Prix.  Mark won the 2009 German Grand Prix which was held at the  Nurburgring which means that Hockenheimring could be the second German track the Aussie wins at.  Once the race in Germany is completed we will be exactly halfway through the 2012 season and I’m sure Mark would like nothing more than to be higher than 2nd place in the World Championship going into the second half of the season.

Believe it or not, there was more going on this weekend besides the Formula 1 (I know, I was shocked too).  The observant amongst you will have seen that Scotland’s Andy Murray came second in Wimbledon on Sunday, losing out to Switzerland’s Roger Federer who moves above 2nd placed Novak Djokovic in the ATP World Rankings.  Many in the UK would have been hoping for double victory for the British this weekend, but alas, neither Murray nor the pair of McLaren drivers could come up with the goods.  No doubt Her Majesty (the second British Monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee) would have been stifling cheers while watching Hamilton fighting tooth-and-nail on track with Alonso.

Whether you are superstitious or not, you can’t argue with the numbers.  The mystifying connection between Mark Webber and the number 2 seems likely to continue unabated.  Don’t forget that he has been driving around in the number 2 marked RB8 this whole year and will continue to do so.  He will persist in applying pressure to Championship leader Fernando Alonso, and will throw everything he’s got into becoming Formula 1 World Champion for the first time.  As the rain clears after Silverstone, perhaps it’s time for number 2 to become number 1…