F1: Webber Expecting Good Race From Third

Formula 1

F1: Webber Expecting Good Race From Third

Mark Webber is upbeat about his prospects for Sunday's Austin GP...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted November 17, 2012 Austin, TX

Mark Webber sits in his car at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. (Photo: Getty Images)

Mark Webber slipped off the front row for the first time since Singapore after qualifying third in Austin.

The Aussie admitted that it wasn’t easy to get everything right on the slippery track, where getting the tires to work was key.

Webber had a scare when he had to see the stewards after missing a weight check, but the Red Bull driver escaped with a reprimand.

“It’s easy to be out of the window here and not be super-competitive, if you don’t get everything together,” said Webber. “I was pretty happy with the last part of Q3. We had to manage a little problem in the car, which in the end I don’t think would have cost us a position, because the guys (Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton) obviously were pretty quick and both did very strong lap times.

“I’d have liked to have had a little bit more pace, but overall I’m happy to the third on the grid. It’s certainly up there towards the front, and we can have a very, very strong Grand Prix from there.

“So, it’s a great job from the team. I think constructors’-wise we’ve got our eye firmly on that (championship) tomorrow, to try and put that to bed, and that’ll be a huge result for everyone at Milton Keynes and at Renault.”
Webber is convinced that he will be in a strong position on Sunday.

“You never know how tomorrow will unfold,” he said. “Clearly, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to capitalize on a very strong, clean Grand Prix from myself. If there’s any issues in front at any stage, you’re there to grab that. I had a pretty good feeling with the car on the long run on Friday, actually, so that’s good for us. We’ll just have a good sleep tonight and have our head down for tomorrow.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.