Red Bull’s Mark Webber says he is unconcerned about being considered by many pundits as a rank outsider for the drivers’ title in 2010.
The build-up to this weekend’s season-opening race in Bahrain has been dominated by talk of how the grid’s all-star cast of leading drivers will fare in the championship battle, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, McLaren duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, returning superstar Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Webber’s team-mate Vettel all widely tipped to figure in the fight.
But while Webber is also likely to have a car with race-winning potential at his disposal and comes into the new season on the back of a breakthrough 2009 in which he won two races, he is not rated amongst the favourites.
The determined Australian, however, insists he is quite happy to continue to be seen as an underdog – adding that he is convinced he has as good a shot at title glory as anyone.
“I don’t get wound up about it, mate,” he told the Daily Express newspaper.
“Let’s see if I can do as last year and have people saying, ‘He’s in the hunt’.
“If Sebastian is one of the favourites then I suppose I need to be one as well. My chances are as good as anyone. Last year I was in the hunt for a long period but didn’t get it done.”
He added: "It is going to be competitive and there are going to be a few different winners. Team and driver will have to be consistent.
“I accept that I might be a bit of a dark horse but that is a good position for me to be in.”
With his six likely rivals for the title all boasting more successful F1 CVs to date than him, Webber admits he’s not surprised to be overlooked in many people’s title predictions.
But, having returned to full fitness after breaking his leg in a cycling accident prior to last season, he feels more prepared for an assault on F1’s top prize than this time last year.
“It’s normal that people will go for Jenson, Lewis, Michael, Sebastian, who is young, Massa, who has fought for the championship, and Alonso, who has two titles,” he said.
“The big difference for me this year is physically and mentally. I will never forget at the Barcelona test last year watching Jenson run from his motorhome to the garage and that was eating away at me because I could not do it.
“This year I don’t have the worry of waking up wondering if the leg has improved.
“It’s hard to say if it affected my performances. But maybe mentally I was a bit drained because I did have an off-season with ops and recuperation.”