Webber should have kept injury secret – Briatore

Mark Webber should never have revealed that he drove the last races of the 2010 world championship with a shoulder injury, his manager has admitted.

After his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel won the title, Australian Webber revealed in a book that he had contested the decisive final four races with a fractured shoulder caused by a cycling fall before Suzuka in October.

Webber, who did not even tell his team about the fall, insisted his injured shoulder did not affect his performance.

But Italian Briatore, who still heads Webber’s management in F1, said: “It would have been better to leave it with no excuses at all, or to have said it when it happened.

“The truth is that Mark lost the championship only because of the mistake in Korea.  Otherwise, he would be champion,” Finland’s Turun Sanomat quotes Briatore as having told the Italian media.

The famous Italian also manages 2010 championship runner-up Fernando Alonso, and Briatore backed the Spaniard to be even stronger this year.

“Fernando is very motivated and Ferrari have promised to give him a car that he deserves which is in front of the others,” Briatore reportedly told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“In addition to that, the organisation changes made are a sign of Ferrari’s trust in their driver,” he added.

© RIF | GMM