Interview: Webber Setting Sights on Consistency

Mark Webber hopes to be fighting for points on a regular basis with Jaguar next season, even if wins are still a distant dream.

Webber's emotional and lucky two points on his Grand Prix debut in Melbourne with Minardi in March made the world sit up and take notice.

His move to Jaguar, on a two-year deal announced on Friday, moves him up to another level of endeavour just as the sport embraces rule changes to liven up the show and allocate points to the top-eight finishers.

"I'd love to say we'll be challenging for points at every race which, given the new system, is possible," the 26-year-old Webber said in a telephone interview with Reuters after the announcement when asked about next year. "But I'd like to see us get some consistency going. The car was very strong at particular circuits (in 2002) and I'd like to get some more consistency. It's not easy to achieve.

"Winning races is something which is - as we know - very, very hard to do in Formula One. To talk about race wins, you can have a degree of luck but you've still got to put some pretty serious cars behind you...I don't think race winning is something that is really in the mind at the moment in the short term. If we are sixth or seventh, that's something to be pretty happy with."

Big Time

Applying the new format to the 2002 season, Jaguar would have scored in four of the 17 races.

If Webber failed to sound overly excited at the day's developments, it was because he had signed his contract long before the end of the season.

He was coy about exactly when he put pen to paper, although he said it was brewing around the time of the French Grand Prix in July after initial discussions with team boss Niki Lauda in Canada during June.

But the Australian had no doubt that he was entering the big time and would feel it more when he starts testing with the team in Barcelona later this month.

"It's a pretty big step for us," he said. "This has a different feel to it...it's a works team, there's stability, a definite future and all that there is to go forward.

"The pressure now is completely in the other direction. There are expectations straight away," added the Queanbeyan-born driver. "At Minardi, everything was a bonus. At Jaguar, it's a works team, it's a very special marque in Britain and the world and they want results."

This year the Ford-owned team finished eighth overall, a disappointing showing given their resources.

The R3 car, billed confidently as the first 'real' Jaguar Formula One vehicle, was woefully uncompetitive and required radical surgery before it was good enough to take Eddie Irvine to third place at Monza in September.

With extensive wind tunnel work and new brains in the design department, 2003 should see an improved package.

Team Rivalry

Webber, a former Renault test driver, was the undisputed number one at Minardi where his teammate was the far slower Malaysian Alex Yoong. It was only when Briton Anthony Davidson, the British American Racing test driver, replaced Yoong for two races that he found himself being pushed harder.

Next season he will have young Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia alongside him and, with team orders banned, Lauda wants to see his two young chargers fighting it out.

Webber said he was looking forward to being measured against the current Williams test driver. "I've raced against Antonio in F3000 last year and he's very solid. Williams don't hire people if they're not good performers. I'm happy to have someone on the other side of the garage with speed and a reputation," he said. "But I don't think Niki will be too happy if we start taking people off."

As he spoke, a congratulatory fax scrolled out from compatriot David Brabham, son of former champion Jack and himself the last Australian Formula One driver before Webber's debut this year.

The good times seem to be on their way. "I am on the straight now. I've had plenty of hard knocks and you come out the other side better for it," said Webber.