Mark Webber is eager to resume competition

Before starting the winter tests tomorrow with Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing officially launched its season by presenting the RB8. The latter will have the heavy responsibility of succeeding the RB7, which in 2011 was recognized as one of the most dominating cars in the history of Formula One. While Sebastian Vettel, the reigning world champion, expects a more complicated 2012 season, Mark Webber believes there is no reason to doubt that Red Bull will fight again for victory: « The team’s success has been growing in recent years, so every time we present a new car, there is a lot of anticipation and excitement. […] We have set the bar high, we have enjoyed it over the past few years, and we dominated the constructors’ championship last year. […] We know we have to keep working hard. Continuity has played a key role, all our partners have been great with us, and there are no reasons why we shouldn’t fight again for top results. »

After a somewhat mixed 2011 season, the great Mark is determined to bounce back in 2012: « Last season wasn’t incredible, but […] I still managed to finish third in the drivers’ standings, not too far from Jenson Button’s second place, and for me, it was a great way to end the season by winning in Brazil and delivering strong performances. As athletes, we always continue to learn and I am already focused on 2012: great opportunities await me, » says the Australian, who intends to take the races one by one. « I think that when you don’t make the most of a situation, you always want to get back to business, improve, and do a better job. The bar has been set very, very high in recent seasons, and that’s the challenge I’ve been looking forward to. I’ve had a very good off-season and prepared myself as best as I could for this season, so I’m eager to start and can’t wait to get back to racing. »

To achieve this, the Australian will partly rely on an RB8 that follows the line of Adrian Newey’s latest productions, despite the significant loss of the blown diffuser: « What we have sought for this car is for it to be very manageable, which means that, on the engine side, Renault continues to do good work, but also that aerodynamically the car is suited to all circuits, in all conditions, and clearly, we need to make the most of the tires. […] We must continue to move forward and develop the car as best as we can without suffering too much from the ban on blown diffusers, which was the major asset the team had last year. »

The Queanbeyan native will be the first to get behind the wheel of the latest creation from Milton Keynes, starting tomorrow, at the Jerez circuit: « I am very excited about driving the car for the first time, as always with a new car, there has been a tremendous amount of work. The first laps are really about gathering as much information as we can, discovering the strengths of the car, and identifying any potential weaknesses that we will need to address very, very quickly. We don’t have many tests before heading to Melbourne, and before we realize it, the winter tests will be over. »