Webber hopes new rules will improve overtaking

Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber is hopeful that a raft of rule changes for the 2009 season will improve overtaking in the sport, but admits it will be pretty difficult to have a more competitive championship fight overall.

"There are many changes next year – slick tires on the cars and the aerodynamic regulations are very aggressive – and we haven't seen changes like them for many years," Webber told the BBC. "Hopefully we'll have better overtaking but are the cars going to be closer together on the grid in terms of time? I don't think so."

"The main thought behind them is to make overtaking easier," he added. "A few races this season could have put even the most hard-core fan to sleep, such was the lack of overtaking, so changes were necessary. It's hard to predict exactly what effect they will have, but will it make it a more competitive title race? I don't think so. The differential between the best and worst teams might get even bigger in terms of overall timings so I don't think it'll close that gap."

"Hopefully we'll have better overtaking but are the cars going to be closer together on the grid in terms of time? I don't think so but we'll see," he concluded.