21/09/2012
NEWS STORY
With the low downforce circuits now behind them, Mark Webber is hopeful that his Red Bull team can recapture the form which drove the squad to the top of the Constructors' Championship.
"It's fair to say we've got to go back to a wing configuration that we're going to for the majority of the remainder of the season," said the Australian. "Obviously it would probably be panic stations if we had to finish the season on Spa or Monza levels but fortunately we don't. We'll all have a bit of a reset potentially on how things will be in terms of the pecking order, which we would certainly like."
After wins in both Monaco and Silverstone, Webber had been close to the championship lead, however his fortunes have turned since the circus arrived in Germany. The Australian has scored just sixteen points in the last four races, while title rivals Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton notched up fifty apiece.
"I wasn't super comfortable in the last two races, particularly on the really, really hard tyre which is completely bizarre because normally I'd have probably preferred that sort of stuff," Webber admitted.
His downturn in form has coincided with a rejuvenated McLaren squad, which has closed the gap in the Constructors' Championship by 45 points; at Silverstone Red Bull headed Ferrari by 64 with McLaren a further 10 points behind, but after the Italian Grand Prix Red Bull enjoys a mere 29 point lead over the Woking squad.
"We've lost some points," Webber concedes. "It's obvious you're not going to have much of a championship if you finish like we have in the last few races.
"We know we've got to improve, we've got to get back towards the front, we've got to qualify better, we've got to just do a better job overall," he added. "That's completely in our hands."
The team is battling reliability concerns, Webber and teammate Sebastian Vettel having faced gearbox and alternator issues which have hampered their title hopes.
"It's a concern, of course," Webber admitted when asked about the team's reliability record. "We have had some DRS, we've had a few gearbox penalties and bits and bobs. We are constantly trying to improve."
The Australian believes that, despite McLaren's recent run of results, nobody has been able to dominate. Therefore, while he's dropping points the situation isn't as bad as it perhaps could have been. "It's very, very tight," he said. "I'll be very, very surprised if for the next three or four races you have people dominating.
"We have a long, long way to go," he added. "I'm not sitting here saying that we're going to have a dominant car, but we will have a car that can challenge for wins, and that's all we can ask for."
Red Bull is a dark horse (??? - Ed) this weekend despite its poor run of results of late, the high downforce, low corner speed layout playing to the perceived strengths of Adrian Newey's creation.