F1: Webber Not Fazed By Hamilton ‘Mind Games’

Formula 1

F1: Webber Not Fazed By Hamilton ‘Mind Games’

Mark Webber doesn't buy into Lewis Hamilton's suggestion that Red Bull has the fastest car...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 05, 2012 Suzuka (JPN)

Mark Webber says he was happy to have a smooth opening day in Suzuka, but the Aussie is not getting too excited about ending FP2 at the top of the times.

Meanwhile, Webber had little time for Lewis Hamilton’s suggestion that Red Bull has the fastest car.

“I think if we go through the last five races of who’s been on the front row, then I think he knows,” said Webber. “There are little tricks here and there in terms of the old little mind games. We know we’ve got work to do. They’ve got a strong car, as have we. I don’t think anyone’s dominant, certainly not us.”

Regarding Friday’s performance, Webber was keeping his feet on the ground.

“It went pretty well for us,” he said. “It’s a great circuit for us to get a nice, clean rhythm on in terms of dry weather. First time in a while we’ve got a full [dry] weekend, potentially.

“I’m very happy with that. We executed most of the runs that we wanted to do plan-wise, and there’s plenty to go through. It’s a very challenging venue in terms of balance. We’ve got a bit of work to do.

“The car ran very well and reliably, we did a test on both tires, and it was a normal Friday. We seem to be pretty strong at the moment. It’s Friday and as we’ve seen it’s very up and down this year. Day-to-day it can change. Today we had a smooth day, and we look to execute one 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.