Mark Webber Q&A: Nobody’s unbeatable, but I’ll do my best to stay ahead 29 May 2010
Fresh from two successive wins in Spain and Monaco, and after notching up his third consecutive pole position at Istanbul Park on Saturday, Red Bull’s Mark Webber is looking cool, calm and collected ahead of Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix. Webber, however, is determined not to underestimate the other drivers on the grid, especially team mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who will start from P2…
Q: Mark, you’ve scored you third pole position in a row, which is a record for Australian drivers…
Mark Webber: Wow, is it? Well, today was a different kind of day. We didn’t have the smoothest preparations in Q3, but the team did a great job in between to get everything ready for me and get things prepared, and I was pretty happy about how it went. Seb was pretty quick as well - both of us were very close together - but obviously he had a problem in Q3. I was lucky, but I did a pretty good lap myself! Yes, I’m pretty happy.
Q: It looks like it’s becoming a bit of a habit…
MW: Yes, I’m getting lucky I think, even though I was a bit on the back foot going into qualifying. I had to refocus for qualifying and that obviously worked very well.
Q: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said that spare parts were rushed in for your car at the very last minute. Did they make it in time?
MW: Yes, they did. We had a slightly different rear wing for a different downforce level, so those parts were bolted to my car four minutes before I went out and they worked perfectly. To start another race from the very front is an amazing experience.
Q: Do you feel you got everything out of the car?
MW: Yes. I was pretty heavy and it wasn’t the easiest to get the whole lap together. It’s a long lap and you have a long time to think about that last sector - to get ready for it.
Q: What do you think about the McLarens?
MW: Ha, we thought that they would be incredibly quick in Monaco - and they weren’t. We also thought that they would be pretty quick here, and they looked pretty quick today. People think that we turn up with the Red Bull and are quick everywhere and destroy everybody. To be honest we have to work so hard to get everything right. The McLaren looks pretty solid, but that is how a championship should be. To think that we will have Barcelona and Monaco results every fortnight is a pipe dream. We know that there are going to be some difficult venues for us, but here we are in good shape and I predict that we will have a strong race tomorrow. It definitely will be an interesting Grand Prix.
Q: Are you unbeatable right now?
MW: No one should ever say that he’s unbeatable. That’s suicide to say that. You just do your best. That’s the best you can do, and if it’s not good enough, you have to work to find out why and if you’re still not good enough then someone will do a better job than you on that day.
Q: But you must on cloud nine at the moment…
MW: No, not really. Just working hard and focusing on what we need to do. You don’t expect to be on P1, but wow, it’s nice!
Q: Were you worried you could be hit by the same technical problems that afflicted Sebastian?
MW: Yes, we both didn’t have the smoothest weekend. We are always working things out as a whole team.
Q: How will you stay in front in the race?
MW: Well, at the last races, it was always down to consistency, and keeping my head together for the race. There are important sections of the race like the pit stop and how the race unfolds from there, the tyres will also have a hard time and it’s a long race. So let’s wait and see.
