Australia’s Mark Webber has spoken about reliability being the key to success for the 2008 RB4 Red Bull race car.
The 31-year-old has told reporters the obvious - that Red Bull Racing's new car must not have the issues that plagued the RB3 in ’07, and he hoped he could start this season at a higher level. In 2007 the team recorded 10 technical failures; something everyone at RBR wants to avoid in the upcoming season.
"Of course you want a fast car, but you need something that's reliable," he said.
"Reliability to finish races is vital.
"You look at all the effort it takes to get to Grand Prix, the whole shooting match; if you break down on lap one or two laps from the end then it's very, very frustrating for everybody if you have technical problems."
Webber is confident the gearbox and hydraulic issues of last year are a thing of the past.
“They should be a damn sight better than last year, because it wouldn't be too hard to beat that,” he said.
The Aussie also admitted that his team's target is BMW, and they hoped to break into the top four - but to do that he and team mate David Coulthard must be consistent and reliable place getters right from the start of the season.
Webber's boss, team principal Christian Horner is optimistic about the chances of his team, and is looking forward to RBR having its best season yet in 2008. The RB4 was track tested last Wednesday and Horner is upbeat about building on the good form shown late last year.
“Last year was a year of evolution, with the first Adrian Newey designed car,” he said.
“This year is the first in the team’s history that we have continuity in all key elements: staff, drivers and engine partner.
“We go into this season on the back of a year in which our performance improved and there is a real sense that we are operating efficiently as a team, having come a long way since Red Bull’s initial investment back in 2005.
As Horney said, Red Bull is now in a situation where they have some form of continuity in all areas. The driver pairing is one of both speed and race winning experience. Adrian Newey is confident the aero work is under control and generally the whole RB4 package is good to go. The inclusion of Geoff Willis as Technical Director last summer adds to a team looking to win.
The RB4 was given its first run at Jerez on the 17th in the hands of David Coulthard. He completed 54 laps with a best time of 1:22.58. This was within 2.8-secs of the fastest time of the day set by Timo Glock (Toyota), but the timesheet was ultimately irrelevant.
RBRs chief technical officer Adrian Newey said “Today was all about giving the new car a good shakedown and getting some miles on it. Now we hope to settle down to proper performance testing starting in Valencia next week. The car's potential? Far too early to say!"
Mark Webber ran alongside DC in last year’s RB3, tuning electronics and getting the starts in order. The program apparently ran without fault and the team went home on a high.
Testing continues this week in Valencia from January 22nd to 24th.
The Australian Grand Prix is less than eight weeks away. The program looks a beauty with the V8s on the grid and a full support cast including the Australian GT Championship, featuring exotics such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus and Aston Martin. The Carrera Cup is on with a field of race-prepped 911s and what I think is the best fun in motorsport at the moment; the little Aussie Racing Cars.
The Celebrity Challenge is back again, this year in Fiat 500s. What a hoot that will be.
The Australian Grand Prix runs from Thursday 13th March to Sunday 16th March 2008 (
www.grandprix.com.au)
Ticket prices are the same as last year, and kids 12 and under are admitted free.
So, let’s support the Aussie GP in Melbourne and give Aussie Mark Webber all the cheers we can for a great start to a great F1 season.
LINKS
Fiat’s baby and boofy blokes for AGP challenge
Fisi thrown a lifeline