Australian Grand Prix: Pre-Race Interview With Red Bull’s Mark Webber

Question: Mark, the car seems to have been quick and very reliable so far.

Mark Webber: Yeah we have had a pretty smooth winter. It is always easy to have niggles and little problems with it being a completely new concept, new regulations as well so the team have done a good job to get on top of those to a degree. There are always niggles here and there but in general a pretty smooth winter. Both myself and the team put a lot of effort in, also Seb (Vettel) to make the most of the limited testing days that we have. We couldn’t quite achieve the mileage Ferrari did. They did a good job in terms of mileage but in general it went pretty well for us getting an understanding of the new regs. Bit of rain here and there in the testing but generally it was a good winter for us and we will find out in the next few weeks where we are performance wise so the first three races will be interesting.

Question: Do you think you can be the best of the midfield teams?

Mark Webber: We are just a drinks company but in the end we had a pretty good season last year so hopefully we can build on what we did last year. We have some sensational rivals, like Fernando touched on. The red guys are a phenomenal team, phenomenal history and that’s what gives us great rewards to come out and compete against those guys. The team again has a high bar set in terms of looking for championships. Both of them would be nice but again as we saw last year if we go to the end it can go either way. That is the goal for the team.

Question: Mark, always massive expectations.

Mark Webber: Yeah, well I’m lucky to have a home race. We have several drivers on the grid who have a home race. It is always a good atmosphere whether it is in Brazil or Spain or the UK with Jenson (Button) and Lewis (Hamilton). Happy to be here. It’s always a good event in terms of the race, it is always a little unpredictable, always a few safety cars here and there so looking forward to it.

Question: Front row last year but that fifth place still remains the best finishing position.

Mark Webber: Yeah, I’ll try and improve.

Question: Extraordinary enough your team-mate hasn’t seen the chequered flag here

Mark Webber: Yeah well sometimes it is just tracks isn’t there. I think Rubens (Barrichello’s) record in Brazil is pretty tough. Some tracks are just like that for drivers so hopefully we have a clean weekend and get a result here.

Question: The change in tyres this year is going to change the strategy of the race. How do you see that panning out given that we don’t necessarily understand the way the race is going to shape up like we have previously.

Mark Webber: Well there is a lot of questions for us to answer this weekend. We have done mileage in the tyres in the winter. They have given us a rough idea of what we should expect, but we need to go racing to see how best to adapt that within a grand prix race. We have got a pretty good idea what the tyres are going to do for us, but how do we integrate that into a grand prix with pit-stops, strategy, things like that. There are some things which are not going to be a surprise probably and that is going to be the tyre performance, but it is how we are going to skin the cat in the grand prix in terms of where you elect to pit, how you are going to tackle the grand prix in terms of the strategic side. Those are going to be the things that need answering and then I suppose a trend will start from this race and in subsequent events after this we will get a trend on how grands prix will unfold in a dry situation.

Question: About the tyres again, the weather forecast predicts maybe rain until Saturday and then sun on Sunday. In the winter tests, the maximum asphalt temperature was 27 as far as I remember. Maybe you face a situation of 40 degrees of asphalt for the first time here in race conditions; how will you face it?

Mark Webber: I don’t know if the track will be forty on Sunday , but I don’t think there will be too many surprises on Sunday in terms of tyre behaviour. We have a very reasonable idea of what’s going to happen, give or take a little bit. But maybe at Sepang we need to get a little bit more interested in track temperatures but here, it looks pretty sensible.

Question: There’s been a lot of talk about the new regulations this year and in particular the rear wing. Do you expect that, as senior drivers, you will have some sort of dialogue as the races unwind about how that’s going to be implemented in future races?

Mark Webber: I don’t think it’s too bad for racing. Obviously we have to see how the wing will go in terms of overtaking for the show. I’m a little bit surprised that we have everything at our disposal for qualifying because it doesn’t really add to the show, it doesn’t really add to overtaking because obviously it’s not that type of session, so for us to have to get used to the overload, all that sort of stuff, it’s just an added bit of tummy-tapping, head-rubbing ,multi-tasking which is a fraction unnecessary for qualifying, maybe, but I think for the race we need to see how it’s going to work because we’re going to use it a lot less in the race. The rear wing is not going to be used anywhere near as much. You have to understand that in qualifying we’re using it every single time we’re at full throttle so it’s pretty busy. I’m on for a challenge. Both Fernando and I have done Formula 3000 races round Monaco with a gear stick so we can drive with one hand, this is not the problem. It’s just that I think that some corners, like Eau Rouge and some of these other places, if you have to loosen your grip or do something different with the steering wheel; it’s not the way you would normally do things. I think Ayrton Senna hung onto the steering wheel with both hands, even in those type of corners, so you need to be reacting, getting ready for anything that might happen. So we will see. It’s just that sometimes new things come along and you need to adapt. I’m not over the top with them, but that’s the way it is, get on with it.

Question: Can you envisage how many times you might use the rear wing during qualifying, in one lap?

Mark Webber: Yeah, every straight.

Question: I know you’re going to tell me that we don’t know the values of the teams now because we haven’t had a race yet, but do you think that Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, perhaps a Renault driver and their teams could be title contenders too, which means that we will have more than Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren as title contenders?

Mark Webber: I think the Renault and Mercedes are fast, yeah, they’re not hanging around. They’ve done a good job in the winter. Renault have always been there or thereabouts. Obviously we should also touch on the fact that it’s a big shame this week that we don’t have our very popular mate in Robert (Kubica) so we’re going to miss him this weekend but I think they will be quick this year. They’ve got a very experienced team there at Enstone so it will be very interesting. Whether they can put a championship together obviously remains to be seen. Also Mercedes have had a good finish to winter testing and they’re going to be winning some races for sure this year. They’ve showed good reliability so there’s no reason why they couldn’t challenge for the title along with McLaren and Ferrari.

Question: Mark, how was yesterday’s barbecue and do you have a special recipe for this season?

Mark Webber: Well, I’m pretty good on the barbecue, actually. I do it quite often. Unfortunately, living in the UK I don’t get a big chance to get it out but I have a few Aussie mates round and we always have the barbie and it’s second nature for me. My father taught me at a very young age how to handle the barbecue so it’s easy. The recipe this year? A similar season to last year with a slightly different finish. That would obviously be a good season; build on what I did last year - obviously a lot of highlights for me - and go from there.

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