Q&A with Mark Webber

Mark Webber

Whilst his Red Bull team mate, Sebastian Vettel, spent Wednesday and Thursday dodging rain showers at Jerez, Mark Webber enjoyed a much drier day of work in the RB6 at the Spanish track on Friday. After setting the session's best time, Webber answered questions from the assembled media…

Q: Mark, how was your running on Friday?
Mark Webber: Every dry lap is pretty important these days, and the weather was much better than expected. It also looks as though it will be half decent on Saturday. It’s a good base to prepare for next week in terms of consistent testing.

Q: Has the test program changed much over the last few days?
MW: Not really. Seb and I wanted to test pretty similar things, because as a team we have highlighted things we need to test. We both do pretty much the same things for the team. After so many days of rainy conditions, we need more track time to evaluate things.

Q: You haven’t done as many long runs as Ferrari…
MW: We did some, but for sure we would have done at least one more. We will make up for it on Saturday.

Q: What tires have you been running?
MW: Soft and medium.

Q: Have you benefited from working alongside Vettel?
MW: It was very enjoyable last year. It was a healthy rivalry, and made me very determined and very motivated to do well. If you have someone like him as a team mate you have to be at the top of your game. I had some very good races last year, but qualifying was a little bit more demanding for me, particularly going into Q3. All in all, we have the same relationship now, as we did when we weren’t team mates, and that is a very good sign. It's also thanks to how everything is managed from the top in the team. It is a very healthy team and that in turn helps the drivers have a good relationship.

Q: Have you ever had a bad team mate?
MW: Not really. I have had different ones, but not bad ones.

Q: Do you feel that the Adrian Newey-designed RB6 is another aerodynamic miracle?
MW: Adrian, unfortunately, always moves the bar very high for himself. He is such a genius that, as you can see, many here have copied some of his concepts from last year. Adrian is a very competitive guy, whether on the tennis court or on his drawing board. He is always looking for performance, and luckily for him, he is a big part of the performance of the car. He always seems to know which areas you need to focus on. It is good to have him in your corner.

Q: Do you feel that Red Bull is a step ahead again?
MW: Today was very good. We have to keep an eye on things as we progress through the championship, because in Malaysia we will not be talking about the second test in Jerez. Things change fast.

Q: In comparison to the old car, did the RB6 feel better in the dry?
MW: Obviously, when the car is very heavy with fuel it is a completely different ball game. The tires are also crucial for us – it is like Roger Federer with his tennis racket. So it is very difficult to compare it with last year’s car. The basics are clearly very good. We still have more to learn and there is still more work to do. Formula1.com