Mark Webber believes Red Bull can maintain its strong Suzuka form in both Brazil and Abu Dhabi, the Australian confident the team’s late-summer blip is now firmly behind it.
Although RBR's constructors’ championship ambitions are all but mathematically over heading into the season’s penultimate round this weekend, Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel still retains a slim chance of winning the drivers’ title.
To pip both Brawn drivers to the crown Vettel realistically needs to win both the final two races, having kept himself in contention with a dominant performance on the aerodynamically-demanding Suzuka circuit.
And in a boost to the German’s hopes, Webber reckons the RB5 should continue to cope well with the differing demands of Interlagos and the brand new Abu Dhabi circuit.
“The team have done a good job in recovering from tough weekends in Monza and Valencia,” he said.
“We looked much better in Singapore, which was a good indication that the rest of the season should go well.
“We always knew we’d be fast in Suzuka, but we now have the belief that we can be strong at all the remaining tracks, so we should be able to see the year off in a good way.”
Webber himself heads into the final two rounds looking to hold on to fourth place in the drivers’ championship, the 33-year-old having slipped into the clutches of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton on the back of five consecutive point-less races.
The Australian, who suffered a miserable Suzuka weekend after crashing in final practice, admits he is determined to register a points finish again – particularly as he is yet to score in his seven previous Interlagos appearances.
“I’m on the hunt for some points because I missed a few with the drive-through penalty in Spa and then at the last two races – Suzuka in particular was a tough weekend for me – so I’m looking forward to getting back on the scoreboard again,” Webber said.
“Although I’ve yet pull off a good result in Brazil, I enjoy driving there. As a team, we’ve had a lot of ‘firsts’ this year, so I’m looking to having another first in Brazil by getting a good result there.”
Vettel, meanwhile, insists he is simply focused on winning the last two races and then seeing how the championship mathematics sort themselves out.
“For now we are looking forward for the last two races, the championship is still open; we will try to do our best and try to win the last races!” the 22-year-old said.
“It’s a long way but we are here to fight.”
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