Red Bull boosted by qualifying showing

Sebastian Vettel beat Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso to pole position in Bahrain with a performance that showed the RB6 is one of the most competitive cars over a single lap.

However, with questions about the car's ability to look after its tyres over longer race distances, Webber is realistic to know that a final verdict on the machine cannot be made until after tomorrow's race.

"It is a great start for us to have a car showing this quality of performance this early on," explained the Australian. "Also it was on a track that might have been a testing circuit for us in terms of layout, so that's another feather in our cap for today only.

"Tomorrow is a whole new ball game and we are in a good position. Sebastian is in a great position, but I am in not too bad a position to move forward from there."

Webber says that no team has a true understanding of its tyre management - which means there are big questions heading into the first race of the season.

"It's the same for everyone," he said. "This is the big unknown. Today there were a few questions answered, tomorrow there will be even more answered on how we approach the grand prix."

When asked to comment on suggestions that Red Bull Racing has bigger doubts than most about its tyre management, Webber said: "There is not a team in this pitlane [not] worried about their tyres tomorrow."