Webber Close to Disaster in Singapore

Mark Webber survived a mid-race battle against title rival Lewis Hamilton and managed to finish 3rd in the Singapore Grand Prix – therefore extending his lead in the overall classification – but the Australian was sure lucky to actually cross the finish line on Sunday. And that's because he spent the second half of the race driving with one of his wheels almost off the rim.

Shortly after the safety car went in on Lap 35, Hamilton tried to overtake his Red Bull rival heading towards Turn 7, but the two made contact and the former had to retire due to puncture. Webber went on to grab the last position of the podium, but a post-race inspection of his car revealed that his wheel was approximately 5 millimeters from slipping off the rim.

Bridgestone's director of motorsport tire development Hirohide Hamashima revealed the information to British magazine Autosport, admitting his wonder over Webber's performance.

“He was very, very lucky. It was just 5mm from slipping off. So Mark was lucky there, but also with the track too. If there were very high-speed left hand corners here, then the tire would have moved a little bit more and then it would have been finished,” said Hamashima, who added that he never saw a tire last in those conditions for that much time (more than 25 laps).

Red Bull's boss Christian Horner echoed Hamashima's comments later on, admitting that his driver was very lucky to see the chequered flag on Lap 61.

“Mark has ridden his luck because looking at the state of that front right tire it is pretty much off the rim. I have never seen anything like it,” added Horner.