Betfair Big Interview: Mark Webber has the F1 lowdown ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix

Formula One / Ralph Ellis / 31 July 2008 / Leave a Comment

Betfair can't resist a bit of Grand Prix glamour, so for this week's Big Interview we turned up at the Red Bull team HQ in Milton Keynes to see how they were preparing for the next race in Hungary. Experienced and popular Aussie driver Mark Webber took some time for an exclusive chat with us...

Mark, you've had eight seasons in Formula One. Can you tell us what the biggest changes have been?

It's actually my seventh season if you don't include my testing work in 2001. As for changes, it never stops. This sport changes subtly every two weeks, and massively every season, so on the driving side you have to adapt to the changes in regulations etc on a very regular basis.

So what's the most important thing you've learned in that time?

The biggest thing I've learnt is probably how to pace myself over the course of the season; in terms of travel, workload, testing, PR commitments and, of course, the racing. You have to structure your time to be fresh for every race day.

The race in Germany was the first time you've had mechanical problems this season - but is it right you were a bit unlucky because of debris on the track?

Yes, when Timo Glock had his accident, I was the first car through. I tried to avoid the debris, but must have picked something up that damaged the oil radiator and the engine soon gave out.

So how does that affect your mindset as you get ready for the next race in Hungary?

It's the same for any disappointing result; especially in this case where there was nothing we could have done any differently to avoid it, you just have to put it out of your mind and move on to the next race.

In general the car has been ultra reliable this season. What difference does that make to the mood of a driver before a race?

Having faith in the car makes a huge difference. When you are on top of reliability, you can fully concentrate on performance and fighting for the best result you can get on the day, without the thought in the back of your mind that your car might let you down. Obviously, not every race is going to go perfectly for us, but when you've built confidence up in the car, you can afford to put that thought completely out of your mind.

What are your hopes for the rest of the season?

Red Bull Racing as a team have an aim to finish fourth in the Constructors Championship. At the moment it's a very close fight, with Toyota just one point ahead of us on 25 points, and Renault are close behind us. To do this, we need to continue to fight for points with both cars in every race. And I'm expecting the street races to throw up some unexpected results due to safety cars and such.

David Coulthard has announced this is his last season. Does that make any difference to the way the team goes about things?

David has a lot of experience to call upon, but his retirement won't change the way the team operates, so it will be business as usual until he does his last race.

What can you tell us about Sebastian Vettel who will be replacing him?

Sebastian has been a Red Bull junior driver for a while now, and has been delivering for Toro Rosso over the past year. So the next logical step was for him to progress to the main Red Bull team. He is a very disciplined and professional youngster, and I think next year we'll have a good blend of experience and youthfulness to take the team forward. I'm looking forward to it

Tell us about the track in Hungary. Is there anything you have to be particularly wary of?

Hungary is a track which is very slippery and dirty on the first day, so that's something to be particularly wary of. This causes the lap times to dramatically increase over the course of the weekend. It's also a track that requires maximum downforce from the car. I'm confident that we'll fare better than we did at Hockenheim.

And who would you see the track suiting? What are the chances of a Lewis Hamilton hat trick?

McLaren have proved to be very strong over the past couple of races, so I would say that they have a good chance of being ahead of Ferrari again in Hungary - particularly Lewis, as he's coming off the back of two very strong race weekends, so the momentum is with him for sure.