Q & A with Mark Webber

Q. I read some stuff in relation to your driving style suiting the new regulations without traction control and the engine brake, is it true; how are you finding the loss of these systems?

Mark Webber: Yeah, it's certainly more challenging for the driver, there's more work for us to do. I think most of the guys at this level are reasonably handy so it would be very foolish to say that one has got an advantage because of the new regulations but some people have a few opinions out there that it's going to benefit other drivers more than others and we'll see once we get into the race weekend as such.

I mean, to see how people adapt to different venues and we don't have much time when we go to Grand Prix tracks, we've got to get into it pretty quick and when qualifying comes around we've really got to step up to the plate and deliver.

We'll see who is capable of doing that and, you know, testing is reasonably straightforward for most guys because you just drive around the same sort of tracks but when we go to different, more challenging circuits with different conditions then it's something I'm very excited about to see how we go with these new regulations.

There's going to be a few more mistakes, guys are going to have a few more .... but it's certainly interesting, it's a bit of a talking point with the drivers and we'll see how we go in the Grands Prix. Until we've done it it's very hard to say how it's going to feel.

Q. Do you think it will have an effect on the actual racing, obviously you're not going to be sliding around like back in the day but will there be more opportunities to overtake or will it affect the racing in any way for the spectators?

MW: Yeah, I think there will be a little bit more of an opportunity to create pressures, yeah, because there could be some slight errors, very subtle errors, so probably not to the uneducated eye probably won't see them, but to the educated and to obviously fellow drivers around the track there could be some little mistakes which could create more pressure and opportunities to make overtaking a little bit more viable.

There's the usual suspects in terms of the teams in the pecking order, I think, but in terms of the actual racing I think it can only sort of help that little bit, yeah.

Q. Red Bull came out with a radical engine cover last week. While it wasn't the day that you went fastest, do you think you guys are willing to step out of the box to try and bridge that gap or does it need to be a little bit more conservative to try and stick in that mid pack and improve?

MW: Adrian has never really been conservative in his whole life in terms of designing cars so we're trying to - I mean, the engine cover looks very, very different but in terms of actually the effects of the car are very subtle in terms of the aerodynamic tuning device that we're trying to play with and we know what it does to the car in certain situations on the track but we're just trying to work out, it's always a compromise in our industry of where you want the car to be, not strong or weak but in terms of just how you set the car up for different venues.

That particular thing you're talking about is the engine cover so we've been, I'd say, not too adventurous on the sort of the weight saving, all those sort of things have been done very well without a huge amount of risk involved because we need to obviously prove that we can design a reliable car.

So if you come from an aerodynamic point of view to design and conceptually do something totally extreme and off the wall obviously the risks are incredibly high, you could end up really towards the back of the grid very, very quickly if it doesn't work and you don't have much time to recover if you're in the shit so in a way, yes, we do have to sort of tiptoe our way from last year's car and that's the great benefit that Ferrari and McLaren have obviously is tremendous continuity from a very good baseline of cars in the past.

So tricky sort of position to be in and how aggressive we be but Adrian has never really been that conservative. With all that taken into account, what does it mean? It means that Adrian is being as aggressive as he can be within reason, without being ridiculous.

Q. You know Fernando quite well, last year's situation, do you think that showed a weakness in his armour and conversely do you think being back in the Renault fold will actually help bring him back up to the fold this year?

MW: The second part, unquestionably he's going to be in a happier environment so he should perform better and the first part I think all great sportsmen and women do have chinks and we've seen that last year Fernando was disappointed with the way things were, I suppose, operating within the team that he was in.

Now whether that's him getting flustered, whether that's him being fairly ripped off or what, not many people know really the ins and outs of it all but his team mate was performing very well and Fernando wanted to - he normally, like most drivers, like to be in a position that they can still control, hard enough with his race and everyone else let alone having to have your team mate all over you like a rash and normally have him covered but he didn't have that luxury last year and that was something that was probably frustrating for him.

Incredibly driven and competitive and, as I say, most of the guys - you don't last long at this level unless you are so you've got to be, he'll be back very strong next year and don't forget the guy that he beat for two world championships before he even launched the .... was pretty handy so I think he's got pretty thick skin, Fernando, so he should be all right.

Q. What about Lewis this year, obviously now the weight of a great nation is on his shoulders do you reckon he'll be able to hack it?

MW: Yes, he will. I think whether McLaren can produce a car that was as fast as last year in relation to Ferrari remains to the seen. Great team and Heikki looks like he's doing well in testing as well so he'd be more balanced .... this year and that could help Lewis again in terms of not having to worry about some of the internal stuff but also it's his second year and inevitably there's a bit more pressure on.

Q. Bernie obviously has ruffled a few feathers. Should the national government, I guess, be stepping in to ensure the survival of the Albert Park event?

MW: Well, it is a national event. I mean, it is held in Victoria and Melbourne but obviously it's something which the whole of Australia can be proud of. I mean, the amount of people switching on to watch that first Grand Prix of the year, we're so lucky to have the first Grand Prix, it's such a coup that we've actually got that and there's other countries obviously fighting like hell to hold an F1 Grand Prix.

It would be nice if we can find a way to continue to hold the event there. As I say, it's been a tremendous event for us for several decades now in South Australia and in Victoria and it would be brilliant for generations to come to be able to see not just the F1 cars - obviously that's the main event - but in terms of all other things that go on there as an event it's a fantastic weekend out.

Yes, it's expensive, yes, it's all those sort of things, but like you say maybe there's a way we can find that nationally it's an event that we should continue, and sporting event and an event that we should continue to be proud of.

Q. With testing, I guess there is so many variables. How much attention do you pay to other teams and how do you measure your performances?

MW: Yeah, I mean we look at the long run times basically which means any teams that are doing a run over sort of 15 laps or more in one stint then we obviously can get an idea of what sort of fuel loads they're running and then we get an idea of what the weight of the car is.

We have guys analysing and dissecting every inch of the track, it's our industry but, yes, we've got an idea of who is where and the lap times that everyone gets at the end of the day are not a real true reflection of the lap times that people are doing consistently.

Q. Obviously Ferrari and McLaren are leading the way. Can the gap to them be closed this year, do you think?

MW: It's going to be a tough ride for the teams - I mean, BMW are looking very keen to do that; obviously they shut development down very early for the last year's car to focus on this year's one because they were comfortably third in the constructors' and were in a position to do that and they've bought a car out which doesn't seem to be on the level they would have hoped for.

Yes, they've improved it in the last few weeks but it's, I don't think, anywhere really near in a position to challenge a Ferrari or McLaren yet so that's the team that I think a lot of people expected to be able to launch into them but it hasn't happened. And once you're in season, I mean, to design bigger bullets it's very hard to out develop those sort of teams unless you start with a total lemon from somewhere but you're not going to get near it.

Q. Reliability, obviously, was the sticking point last year. How has that been so far in testing and have you been doing race simulations and how have they gone?

MW: The reliability has been really encouraging for us, especially from the Red Bull for the Milton Keynes side, we've had a few Renault issues which have stopped us on track but as far as gearbox and a lot of the Achilles Heels that we had last year, a lot of that equipment has been pulled down very well at the end of each night so we're very encouraged by how those components are running at this early stage and all things being equal we should have at least the most reliable car that we've had for a long time coming into the season, which is good.

Q. The FIA has plans to introduce a cap on team spending, as I understand it. Is there any way in the world this could happen and if they do manage to get it through what effect do you think it will have on the competition?

MW: Well, I think it's way off yet. Obviously I know Max has given some vibes out that it's not far away but for the sport to have ceilings put on different areas of the team financially would be quite a challenge, in my personal opinion, to be able to sort of control how that would happen. Would it help the racing, or how would it affect the sport? God only knows.

I mean, I don't know mate, I really don't know what it would do for the sport. Obviously the clever guys will still be competitive and the guys who aren't quite as clever would be still sitting just away from that but obviously, having said that, funding does make a big difference to the performance.

I know Ferrari have just come out and said, I think, they've got an extra 100 million Euro this year and they're in good shape so it's nice to be in that position if you could be, yeah.