Horner unfazed by random races

Although the RB7 appears to be the car to beat ahead of the start of the season in Australia, there remains a high chance that clever strategies in the race could yet prove to be more important.

When asked by AUTOSPORT if the uncertainty about the tyre impact was a worry ahead of the Albert Park event, Horner said: "Not really. Ultimately it is the same for everybody.

"What you can sometimes see here is that safety cars have pretty much affected every race in the past 10 years at this circuit, so you can never rule out a fortuitous safety car for somebody. But that tends to even itself out over the course of the season.

"The most important thing is to be quick and then to try and capitalise on that. Strategically we were very, very strong last year, and obviously we will be looking to build on that. With more opportunities you have got to make more than one call this year. You have to make possibly three or four per race per car, so it is going to be a new dimension and I think great for the spectators."

Horner believed that the nature of the tyres - with the key to the race being in changing tyres before the final major drop of degradation - would put more emphasis on the drivers.

"The driver is the biggest element so his feedback is going to be crucial. The way he uses the tyres is going to be critical as well, so he is the most important factor.

"But obviously what he cannot see are all the different permutations within a race strategy that potentially can open up. So it is going to be a matter of him giving the right feedback and then the teams making the right strategic calls.

"Unlike last year when making the call essentially once, it will have to be two, three or maybe four times during a race this year. I doubt you will see a scenario like we had with Sebastian [Vettel] in Monza for example where we ran him all the way to the last lap and pitted him. You will not be able to do that with these tyres but it is the same for everybody."