JOIN USThey have a healthy 77-point lead over Ferrari with just four races left in the season but Red Bull driver Mark Webber says they are not taking the constructors’ title for granted and “hunger” for success is still there in them.
“Hunger is still there as every race is a new challenge for us. We would like to win every race to end the season on a high,” Webber told PTI in an interview here.
“Yes, we have a good lead at the constructors’ table to the day. Everyone associated with the team has put in a massive effort to take us where we are right now. There would be nothing more satisfying than to win the teams’ championship three years in a row,’’ he added. “It’s a very special achievement for Red Bull. The next two events are very important that we keep our foot on their throats and see how the next few go. We are not looking at the points really. We need to reap in the maximum from the races ahead,” the Australian said. The early part of the season witnessed some strong finishes among Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari but in the last five races, Red Bull has zoomed past its nearest rivals as Sebastian Vettel recorded three straight victories in Singapore, Japan and Korea.
Asked about the turnaround, he replied, “We have a good understanding of the cars now and we have done a lot of research and developments in the last two three months.”
“This has not been easy for us. We were on such a high-level previous year and in the first part of the championship this year we were just hanging there in terms of results,’’ Webber said. “I won some GPs early on in the year. Vettel had the car also and was quite happy with it and later on, he started winning the races quite well. In terms of developing the car, we are very strong in that area,” he said. Webber conceded that the current season has been a very “competitive” one for all the teams with changes in tyres and introduction of new FIA regulations.
“The season has been pretty competitive. The tyres and the new regulations are two major issues. The tyres were changed and we had been trying to understand them. We are slowly getting on top of that,’’ Webber added.
“Also the regulations were quite different from last year. You see the blown diffuser was quite powerful and we were the team that tried it really. That was banned. We had to work out how to get the cars happy again around these new regulations. So far, in terms of the team, we are doing good. We have to beat the others and that’s the motivation which keeps us going,” he said.
Webber had finished fourth in the inaugural edition of the Indian GP last year, and the 6 feet 1 inch tall driver from New South Wales said he would settle for nothing less than a podium finish this year on October 28.