'Red Bull looking good for fourth place'

MARK WEBBER

Home | News | Driver Profile | Official Site | Results in F1

Thursday 3rd July 2008

Mark Webber is happy "the hindsight goggles" have been left on the shelf this year as he and Red Bull have finally found their focus.

Webber has been one of the most consistent performers in Formula One this season, scoring points in six of eight grands prix, retiring only once.

That is in stark contrast to his first season with the team last year when a lack of reliability resulted in him failing to finish seven of the 17 races.

The Australian has already scored eight more points than he managed throughout the whole of 2007, and other than competing for podiums and wins, he could not be happier with the improvement in form.

"Currently, the season is going better than we could have expected after the start of the year when we had a lot of tough opposition down the pit lane," said the 31-year-old.

"Those teams are still there, but the numbers never lie and at the moment we are looking good to maintain fourth in the Constructors' Championship.

"Touch wood, I've had a good run in terms of reliability and that's certainly helped.

"I think we've executed most of our weekends pretty well, and there haven't been many races where we've had to dig out the hindsight goggles.

"In terms of qualifying and the race, it has generally gone well, certainly much better than last year.

"Not many teams have managed to get seven consecutive points scoring finishes (including team-mate David Coulthard's third in Canada).

"Okay, maybe we're not banging out podiums and race wins, but we are doing everything that can be asked of us at the moment."

Ahead of this weekend's British Grand Prix, Webber is certainly out-performing Coulthard in both qualifying and races.

Webber feels that is due in part to turning a corner in the middle of last year.

"I started to work well in terms of getting the most out of the car and understanding it and that has carried through to the present," added Webber.

"I'm pretty happy with the way I've been driving, although having a reliable car has helped.

"It will be asking a lot to maintain 100% reliability through to the end of the year, but I hope the bad race weekend stays away for as long as possible.

"I'm comfortable with the car, and I feel I can put it on the limit at most venues, which is encouraging.

"I am trying to keep the errors to a minimum, and that's been reflected in our points tally.

"As for the rest of the season, it's not going to get any easier for us and we still have to deliver week in and week out."