Webber downplays the contribution of new features on the RB8
As most teams fear another season of domination from Red Bull, Mark Webber, driver for the Austrian team, downplays his team's lead over the competition.
After a 2011 championship without suspense, outrageously dominated by Red Bull, the latter is undoubtedly the team to beat this year. However, few teams have announced they will be fighting for victory right from Melbourne, with the challenge being rather to start the season with as little delay as possible.
However, after testing the latest improvements made to the RB8, Webber believes that we should expect tough competition at the front of the grid. The new package brought to Barcelona included notably a new front wing and a new exhaust line, which apparently do not change the behavior of the car in a significant way.
There are a few changes, yes, but nothing really different, we have continued with the planned program, asserted the Australian. There are still some new things for tomorrow (Sunday), but nothing drastic, we will simply continue working. It is very important to pursue our program here; it is impossible to know where the others stand, but it is evident that some teams are very fast.
If generally the times achieved during private tests are not representative of reality (Mercedes in 2011), Webber reminded that it is useless to speculate about Red Bull’s incredible performances until they are actually at the top of the time sheets. He indeed recorded the 8th fastest time yesterday in Barcelona.
People can say what they want about us, but as long as we are not at the top of the timesheets, it means we still have work to do. So, there is a long way to go.
Webber also spoke about the competition and the teams he found most threatening so far, citing McLaren as the main rival.
“I think McLaren looks very strong, but the times set by other teams aren’t bad either. We’ve seen good lap times from Romain [Grosjean], the mystery is rather Ferrari,” he stated. “Nico [Rosberg] is also fast with the Mercedes, which means the car is good. These are people who are extremely strong.”
Webber also stated that he expected a quite pronounced fight during Q2, as the gap between teams has significantly narrowed compared to last year.
