Red Bull’s Mark Webber confident of winning maiden championship; Renault hoping for improved performance
Red Bull’s Mark Webber is confident that he will seal the F1 championship before the end of the season. However, the Australian racecar driver is not about to allow himself to be complacent as he hopes to win the last three races
of the season despite enjoying a healthy 14 points lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship table.
Webber is hoping to extend his lead in the forthcoming inaugural Korean Grand Prix next weekend as he plans to win his maiden F1 championship. Currently, five drivers are in contention for the F1 title. Webber is followed by two-time
World Champion Fernando Alonso and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, both of whom are on the second spot. Additionally, Lewis Hamilton and defending champion Jenson Button are also in the race. Commenting on the title race, Mark Webber said, “No, I can't
think like that [about playing the percentages]. It won't be enough. I need to keep racing hard and going for victories. Clearly, of course, if my rivals have a rough weekend it makes it a bit harder for them and it gives me a bit more scope, but I'm not looking
to abuse that because it can all go pear-shaped very fast.”
Nevertheless, Webber has repudiated the claims of him being the favourite as he believes that things can change quite rapidly. According to Webber, a bad race in any of the last races would definitely change the complexion of the
points’ table. He said, “I think we're all pretty even. It can change pretty quickly - in a good way or a bad way for me. It's on a knife-edge, but I'm very relaxed. It's another race for me. I'll give nothing, leave no change on the table and do the best
I can. The points will look after themselves. Like I said, you need to be leading the championship at the last race, not now.”
On the other hand, Renault’s Robert Kubica opines that it will be very difficult to predict the result in the upcoming Korean Grand Prix because of the novelty of the circuit. According to Kubica, it is very difficult for teams
to predict their performance in Korea. Nonetheless, he affirmed that he would give it his best shot in the Far East. He said, “The track looks pretty interesting. There's a bit of everything: long corners, high-speed and low-speed sections, and the final sector
seems quite challenging. A lot will depend on the level of grip that the asphalt has. If the grip is high, then some of the corners will be easy flat; if it's low, they will be a big challenge.” Kubica believes that the grip of the car tyres will be the key
in Korea and in this regard the circuit can be compared to Hockenheim and Canada. Like most of the F1 drivers, Kubica is expected to complete several laps of the Korean International Circuit on his team's simulator ahead of the race.
Kubica’s teammate Vitaly Petrov is resolute about not making any more mistakes as he prepares himself for the next race. Petrov was involved in a crash with Williams’ driver Nico Hulkenberg which culminated in the retirement of
both drivers. As a result, Petrov was awarded a five-place grid penalty for Korea. However, Petrov is hopeful of giving an improved performance in Korea. The Russian driver said, “I always try to be in the top ten and that must be the target this weekend.
But I need to make sure I don't make any mistakes. Scoring points is important and that will be my aim in Korea. Because it's a new circuit, everybody will be in the same situation and will have to learn the track.”
Petrov’s chances of remaining in the F1 have brightened after the news was announced that the Russian Grand Prix would be on the calendar in 2014. Petrov is relishing the prospect of driving on his home circuit and hopes that he
will be on the grid for the inaugural race.
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