Webber hopes for breakthrough wins in 2009

“I will win this year.”

32-year-old Australian Red Bull racing driver Mark Webber is only 3.5 points behind his highly rated young teammate Sebastian Vettel, who after winning the Chinese grand prix last month was named as perhaps Jenson Button’s most serious threat for the 2009 title.

“I really do think I’ll win a grand prix this year and hopefully more than one because for the first time in my career, I think I’ve the chance to do that,” Webber said.

But while Vettel, 21, has won twice in his short career spanning just 32 grands prix, Webber is yet to receive the biggest silverware despite starting nearly 100 more races than the German.

Australian Webber’s career commenced in style in 2002, when he scored two points on debut for the back-of-the-grid Minardi team. “I would have thought I’d have achieved a lot more in that time frame,” he admitted in an interview with the Times. “But if you had told me I would do 129 races and drive in more grand prix races than any other Australian I would not have believed that either.”

Top car, top team

Webber insists he is proud of his career to date, including always leading the way to teammates like Nick Heidfeld, Nico Rosberg and David Coulthard. “People will say, ‘he should have done better’ but look at the teams I have raced for and my teammates — with the exception of this year, they did not win a race,” he said, recalling his times with Jaguar and Williams. “I’ve always been fair with myself. Am I Michael Schumacher? Maybe not. Have I the ability to win races? Absolutely, I believe I will do it this year.”

Just like Vettel, Webber’s current mount is the Adrian Newey-penned Red Bull RB5, which most commentators agree has been outclassed in 2009 only by the dominant Brawn. “There’s a few things which are uncharted for me,” he admitted. “I’ve always generally been on top of my teammates but I’ve got one now who is testing me quite hard. And the second thing is that I’m driving a car that is so bloody competitive, it’s fantastic,” added Webber.