Red Bull’s Mark Webber aims to start the season on a high
Red Bull’s Mark Webber claimed that his team was ready to start the season, which starts from 27th March in Australia, on a high. The 2010 champions started day-one of the final pre-season testing at Barcelona on a positive note yesterday, recording
the fastest lap time of 1 minute, 22.544 seconds.
However, the Australian driver claimed, “You always learn more when you go racing about your strengths and weaknesses as a team. That comes from pace, reliability, pit-stops, organisation, Saturdays/Sundays, the whole thing.”
He further added, “It is pretty obvious that the team is incredibly motivated, and organisation-wise we are in great shape - so we are building on what we did last year.”
Webber clarified that his relationship with team-mate Sebastian Vettel was very good and that they had moved on from what happened in the previous season; both had blamed each other for the accident that robbed the team of a Turkish Grand Prix.
He further stated that such infighting can be a part of the sport, especially when team-mates are also competing for the championships against each other.
Apart from the rivalry between Vettel and Webber, Red Bull had a terrific season in 2010; the team claimed both the constructor’s and the driver’s championship. However, there was some serious challenge posted to the 2010 champions by McLaren and Ferrari,
who ended-up as number two and three in the overall standings.
The same level of competition is expected this year, between the top three teams of 2010. However, Red Bull is predicted to dominate the start of the season. Webber said that he would not forecast any results, as some other teams also have the same pace
and reliability like his own team.
Even though the pre-season testing has shown that Red Bull has the pace to win races, Webber claimed that the situation will be clearer after the first race at Melbourne.
Ferrari seems to be the only team, which can match the pace of the last year champions. The scarlet car has been in good shape and both drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso have proven to be quick in the testing sessions so far.
Last year’s runner-up team, McLaren, hasn’t been able to demonstrate the speed, which the team is normally associated with. The British team has struggled to find grip with the Pirelli tyres, and they are expected to be the third fastest team this season
behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
Although some teams may appear to be slow during the testing sessions, the real potential of the teams will be unleashed when the season gets started officially.
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