GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Q&A with Red Bull’s Mark Webber

Q&A with Red Bull’s Mark Webber

It was this weekend one year ago when Mark Webber last won a Grand Prix. After 12 months of cold turkey, Webber is crying out for a change. Qualifying was not that promising for the Australian, but he is still convinced that the nature of the Hungaroring will work to his advantage on Sunday…

Q: Mark, you won this race last year. How do you feel about this track?

Mark Webber: It is a pretty demanding track so every single of the 77 laps we have to do is very busy for a driver. Actually I love to race here as the circuit has some quite interesting technical sections. What is a bit surprising is that it is not the usually hot conditions where you get out of the car and are exhausted almost to your limit, but that it is almost crispy fresh.

Q: We are midseason and you’ve had some good results, but not a single race win. How do you cope with that?

MW: Of course winning is the ultimate goal, but when I look at the standings I am still in P2 which means that I have a lot of points to my name. So I would say that so far it has been a very solid season with a number of good recovery drives from reliability issues, so there are still a lot of positives to look at. And to be honest I feel that a win is not too far away. But don’t get me wrong, it is always much better to get a victory sooner rather than later. (laughs)

Q: But compared to last season, right now you have more points than you had at the same point last year. But you’ve yet to convert pole to victory in 2011…

MW: Well, I think that ‘pole to victory’ scenario is heavily overrated. I have had some of my best race wins when not starting from pole, so I am not making a big deal over it.

Q: From the grid we have here in Hungary, could we say that the advantage Red Bull has had in the early races is slowly but steadily melting away?

MW: Of course it is getting tighter. When people praise the RB7 it is basically because of our qualifying performance. In fact we had an incredible qualifying performance so far, but we all know that points and trophies are allocated on Sunday. And even at some of Seb’s (Vettel’s) races at the beginning of the year it was hard for him to stay in the lead, like in Barcelona or Monaco - and for me at Nurburgring. Sunday afternoons is an area we want to improve and we are working on. But again, if you look at the standings, the team leads in the constructors’ championship and Seb in the drivers’ championship and I am in P2, so we just need to build on that and keep positive.

Q: Keeping positive - what, and competitive in the race?

MW: We will definitely be competitive and I am sure we will be able to challenge for victory - even if we couldn’t change the car so much from last weekend. Of course I want to be involved in that challenge for victory as well. Whether we have a silver or a red car with us is anybody’s guess.

Q: After Sunday everybody is heading into the summer break. What are you taking with you from that first half of the season to contemplate on in next few weeks?

MW: Well, obviously it is mixed emotions. I can only be one position up in the championship, but the gap to Seb is quite a lot. But then I had some very good drives and I am happy with a lot of the races I’ve done, and the last few races have been very good for me. It is easy for me to be down and to say that I want to get more, but I definitely have a chance in the second half of the season to get there as well.

Q: Every time there is a race we expect fireworks, but sometimes - like in Valencia - it doesn’t quite work out. Do you think that all these new rules and regulations will definitely change racing for the better?

MW: Well, I think in Valencia and Nurburgring the races have been a little bit more stable, but we also don’t have four or five pit stops every race. This is the balance that you have to find. We want to do the racing on the track, but we also need tyres that are stable so that we can race each other on the track - and not wait for the pit stop and waiting for the strategy guys to do it all for us. That is the fine line we have to deal with, but I think tomorrow you will see another good Grand Prix. I know that this race has put some people to sleep in the past, but I am sure not this weekend.

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)