- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Red Bull
Gradual improvement key for Webber
Mark Webber said the key to his pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was making gradual improvements throughout qualifying.
Although team-mate Sebastian Vettel seemed set to take pole position following the first runs, Webber became the only driver to drop below the 1m40s mark this his final run to snatch it. While Webber admitted qualifying had not started well he said he was continuously making change and chasing Vettel's time throughout the session.
"I think this weekend so far has gone pretty smoothly for us," Webber said. "It's not the easiest venue because of the temperatures when the sessions are; obviously in the afternoon and then the night sessions. You've got to be on top of that as a driver and also from an engineering perspective, so we did what we could do.
"It was not the smoothest start I would say to Q2 and also to Q1. We were not electric but then getting in to the groove we change the car quite a bit with the front wing level as the session went on and I got more and more comfortable. I knew I had to work on certain sections of the track where Sebastian had already been doing a good job already, so I had to match him there and keep the areas where I was still doing a pretty good job.
"Overall I'm happy with the pole. It was a good lap at a track where in the past it has not been super invigorating for me in terms of layout let's say. But we certainly enjoyed the qualy today and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow because I think we've got a good car in the race in these conditions."
Asked about his chances of winning on Sunday, Webber said he was hopeful of a strong race based on his recent form.
"There are no guarantees, we have a good car in the race I believe as we've shown in the last few events. We've always been there or thereabouts and leading some races in the last few events and challenging for some very good results. In qualy I've also been pretty strong - Korea in the race coming back from the 10-place penalty and bits and bobs - so in general the form's been very strong. I want to carry that over to tomorrow night and keep my head down and look for a very good result."
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