Melbourne, Australia, Mar 17: An all-too-familiar poor start and a slow pit stop conspired to yet again deprive Red Bull's Mark Webber of his first podium in front of his home fans at the Formula One Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Webber started from second on the grid, but was swamped in the run to the first corner, dropped to seventh after one lap and finished sixth.
A winner of nine F1 races, Australian-born Webber's best finish in 12 years at Melbourne remains the fourth place he earned last year. “We salvaged something in the end, but that was Melbourne today and it was disappointing not to get more out of it,” he said.
Australia's other hope, Torro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, fared worse, failing to finish due to an exhaust issue after 42 laps.
