Webber gets a reprimand

22/09/2012

Mark Webber has been handed a reprimand by the stewards after the Australian kept them busy following today's qualifying session.

Having set the seventh fastest time, half-a-second adrift of his teammate and over a second off pole sitter Lewis Hamilton's pace, Webber was summoned to the stewards office for two separate incidents.

The first related to the Red Bull driver allegedly impeding Timo Glock midway through the first phase of qualifying. As he exited the pit he appeared to obstruct the Marussia, a charge which was dismissed, the stewards producing a spectacularly long winded document and elaborate explanation as to why the Australian was cleared.

It was the second referral for which Webber received a slap on the wrist.

Returning to the pits at the end of the qualifying hour the Red Bull driver twice left the circuit for 'no justifiable reason', something the stewards took a dim view of.

After the events of Spain, where Lewis Hamilton stopped his car to ensure sufficient fuel remained in the tank for the FIA to test, the governing body became more stringent on the issue of drivers cutting the circuit as they returned to the pits.

That Webber was unable to provide an explanation as to why he left the circuit, twice, meant the stewards gave him a reprimand, though he escaped a Community Service order like that handed to Charles Pic.

Check out our Qualifying gallery, here.