Vettel claimed dominant wins in Australia and Malaysia prompting some to question whether F1 should just gift him the title right now. After taking pole in China, it appeared as if it was going to be another Vettel victory.
However, the German lost out to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who used his fresher rubber to pass the reigning World Champ on lap 52, taking the win.
Surprisingly, the man who was happy to see Vettel lose was his own Red Bull team-mate.
"Congratulations to Lewis. It was good that someone finally... of course Seb is in the same team, but he's been on a phenomenal run and we're all here together fighting for victories," said the Aussie.
"Shame McLaren won in a way, but also we can't let Seb get too far away. It was a good day for the racing, I think, and a good day for us in terms of points for the team."
As for his own grand prix, Webber fought back from a dismal P18 in qualifying to finish on the podium, slicing past the Ferraris, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button in the final ten laps thanks to his newer tyres.
"It was an interesting GP, we decided to start on the prime hard tyre. We know it was not the more desired tyre. We got that out of the way, and it was quite tricky. It was not easy to come back with those guys.
"But I got the car back and we really started from there. To still see P17 on board after 15 laps [was hard], then I felt comfortable with car, and I had a few sets of tyres left after qualifying - so maybe the best bet is not to take part in qualifying and go from there!
"Jokes aside, great job this weekend, the guys haven't given up - it is a drive for everyone at the factory."
Source: Planet-F1
