Red Bull driver Mark Webber believes Ferrari are well placed to mount a strong challenge for honors in this year’s season.
“I think Ferrari are strong,” Webber said after the third day of the final pre-season tests on Thursday. “I think we’re going OK and the rest is hard to say. I haven’t even looked at the times today, they’re not even of interest, you just focus on your own thing.”
OPENING RACE
Turning his attentions to the opening race of the season on March 27, Webber joked: “I think we’ll be in the top eight in Melbourne.”
“The form is still very hard. I would not put my house on qualifying in Melbourne, I don’t know who has the outright pace. I think we’re going OK, but it’s impossible for me to know what the red guys [Ferrari] are doing. Race runs they are going OK, they look quick,” he added.
Webber finished third in last season’s drivers’ championship, 10 points behind runner-up Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and 14 points behind triumphant teammate Sebastian Vettel.
GOOD TIMES
The Australian recorded the third quickest time in Thursday’s session, 0.70 seconds behind Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber and 0.30 seconds behind Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
“I’m ready for the first race and you always want a good run in your home race, but I don’t want to jinx things for myself,” Webber said. “In terms of team preparations it’s the best we’ve had in terms of reliability and understanding the car, but it’s still a long, long way to go. All the departments have done a sensational job. You can never have it perfect, but we could be in much worse shape in terms of reliability.”
“Hopefully we are not too far away from Ferrari to start with and we go from there,” he said.
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