Korean Roll on Lap 19

The biggest controversy in the Formula One paddock this week is whether or not  Mark Webber intentionally took out Nico Rosberg on lap 19 of the Korean Grand Prix. Amazingly enough, it wasn't about the 'love hotels' that the teams were staying at. 

Emotions run high during the race and no one knows exactly what is going through the mind of a driver that has just lost control and crashed into the barriers.  But I can almost guarantee you that the idea of taking out another driver was not what was going through the mind of Mark Webber.  Looking back over the season, Webber is not one to provide us much controversy.  I have always seen that if Webber has a problem with something, the media and fans alike either hear it live or shortly there after.

Supposedly, Mark Webber had refrained from keeping control of his RB6 after spinning off in lap 19 and intentionally let his RB6 roll back onto the tarmac directly in front if Nico Rosberg. Causing Rosberg to collide into the stricken RB6.  Has this race taken place in a different time, or even involved different players in the 2010 season, then it could possibly be true.  But Webber?

Webber has recently been ranked 34 out of the Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2010 by AskMen.com. It is one of the first times that a Formula One driver has made the list.  Yes, I admit, some of the names on the list are controversial but they are there for a good reason.  Mark Webber is there because he is a good person.  He is one of the only Formula One driver's without a PR as well as one of the most accessible men in the sport.

Reading through many of the press releases since the Korean Grand Prix, there are not too many people that blaming Webber for taking out Rosberg in his spin off.  There are primarily two; Nico Rosberg himself and Gerhard Berger.

"I don't understand why Webber didn't hit the brakes," Rosberg tweeted in the aftermath of the incident. "It was crazy to roll back across the track like that." What I would like to ask is if maybe Webber didn't have any brake.  Did we not see his spin off and the go careening into the barrier and bounced off it it a few times.  The aftermath photos show his car caked in mud and it shows the one wheel snapped off.  I am thinking that there may be a brake line within the tangled mess. Possibly?

And Gerhard Berger, being quoted to the press, "He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car. He took out Rosberg but it was the wrong one. I think in his mind he would have preferred Alonso or Hamilton." He was asked to clarify whether he thought Webber's move was deliberate, the former Toro Rosso co-owner said: "Yes, I think that's very clear. He goes off and he knows it's over. In this moment you're frustrated and a thousand thoughts go through your head. It's very obvious -- you can see that his wheels are not locked up. Perhaps he had a brake problem but I don't think so."

At least, Berger gives Webber the benefit of the doubt, "Perhaps he had a brake problem ..."

Look it. It was the very first race on the new Korean International Circuit.  Any rubber that was laid down during the free practices and qualifier was wiped away with the rain.  The race was pushed ahead due to a persistent driver appeals over his radio: "It's almost intermediate [tyre conditions]. It's really dried up", when most people would have stopped it.  Could you just image how bad it could have been had all the teams taken the advice of a certain, irresponsible driver?  The carnage could have been much worse than two World Driver's Champion's losing valuable points in this one race.