Webber: Ferrari, McLaren will challenge

Editor 08 Feb 2012 6:25 PM

Mark Webber feels Ferrari and McLaren will once again be Red Bull’s main rivals during the 2012 season…

Mark Webber feels Ferrari and McLaren will once again be Red Bull’s main rivals during the 2012 season.

While the double World Champions’ RB8 have impressed close the top of the timesheets on the opening two days of testing in Jerez, their foes have lacked pace and found themselves stuck in the midfield.

Although it is still early days, Webber says Ferrari and McLaren will be there or thereabouts when it comes to top honours this season.

“We’re making some pretty good progress. It’s early days in the concept of the car, we have a lot of stuff to go through and, with the regulation changes, you have to understand new challenges,” he told BBC Sport

“The car was pretty competitive in winter testing last year and the same again this year, (but) we know Ferrari and McLaren will be there.”

The Australian completed 97 laps on Wednesday finished second behind Michael Schumacher, who was driving a 2011-spec Merc, on day two with a 1:19.184.

“It was pretty good today. I think we’re making good progress although, as I keep saying, it’s still very early days in the concept of the car and we have a lot to get through before we race it. But it’s the same for all the teams,” he said.

“We did well on the mileage today,” he added. “I guess we could have done a bit more, but it was positive overall and the conditions were good to test in.”