It was another bitterly disappointing home Grand Prix for Mark Webber after his Australian Grand Prix effectively ended at the first corner of the opening lap when he was collected by an out-of-control Rubens Barrichello who escaped unscathed and went on to finish the race in second place.

Webber had made a good start from eighth position on the grid and was minding his own business on the run down to the first corner.

“My start was ok – it wasn’t awesome but it wasn’t too bad,” said Webber afterwards, “I saw Rubens had a bad start so I went around him and was just focussing on where Nick (Heidfeld) was. I went down to turn 1 and started braking and having a little look at Nick although I was never intending to do anything there. But then from nowhere I got hit in the rear by Rubens.”

“I got hit again by someone else and unfortunately the car suffered quite a bit of damage. So after that it became a testing exercise for me and the opportunity for me to get some mileage in the car, albeit at the rear of the field.”

“It was incredibly frustrating for me to have a race like that in front of my home fans but rest assured, I’ll be trying to repay them with some top results during the season. We have a great car in RB5 and I’m really looking forward to getting up to Malaysia next weekend.”