Webber: Red Bull working at its best as a team

Despite bad weather affecting the on-track programme at Barcelona on Friday, the Australian was delighted with the progress made in ensuring that the team is operating at a higher level in 2013.

"This was a good test for us in terms of everybody's role in the team," said Webber.

"We were put through some scenarios and this is what makes you perform.

"We need to improve, we need to do better this year as a team and we are focusing very hard on ourselves and achieving that.

"The boys did a very good job today, the best I've seen them work for a long time."

Webber is determined to have a stronger season in 2013 having so far proved unable to repeat the run at the world championship that he managed in 2010.

As well as his own performance level, he believes that the way that the way that the team operates is a boost to his prospects.

"In 2011 and 2012, we were not super reliable and I could have done better in certain races," he said.

"But ultimately, we can do better all together, my side, the team side, all of us together. That will mean a strong performance for us in '13."

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F1 Editor Edd Straw

Mark Webber's comments on how well Red Bull is working read like the usual platitudes, but for a driver who hasn't always - rightly or wrongly - felt that he had the full support of his team, it offers a glimpse into his mindset.

The Australian is clearly determined to step up a gear this season. On his day, he is capable of taking superb wins and pushing Sebastian Vettel hard. The trouble is that his day doesn't come around often enough, leaving him trailing in the triple world champion's wake over the past two years.

At 36, there's no reason why he can't have more years in F1, but with the rule changes next season, he can't be certain that even if he is at Red Bull, he will be in a world championship winning car.

For all the uncertainties of testing, it's hard to see the Red Bull RB9 being that far off the pace and a driver understandably haunted by his failure to win the 2010 world championship clearly sees this year as a fresh opportunity.

None of that means his overall performance relative to his team-mate will be any different in 2013 to the preceding two years and it's hard to see him joining the dots of his high-points to become a Vettel-beater.

The real point is that it proves Webber is not there simply to make up the numbers and be satisfied with a couple of wins and a healthy paycheck to feed into the pension fund.