Red Bull driver Mark Webber has reaffirmed that his competitive edge is not dimming yet, despite his disappointing 2011 season, saying that he was still enjoying racing, and couldn't wait for the start of the new season.
Webber played second fiddle to team mate and 2011 champion Sebastian Vettel throughout the 2011 season, with the Australian winning just a single race.He signed a new one-year contract extension for 2012 with the Red Bull team earlier this year, with many speculating that this might be his final season in the sport.
But Webber insists that he is still feeling as excited by racing as he ever has done, and is confident that he can bounce back from his 2011 disappointment next year.
"It's good to have our feet up a little bit, it's a long, long season as we all know. But to be honest I probably wouldn't have it any other way," he told the Reuters news agency in an interview on Monday.
"I still absolutely love my racing and I'm really looking forward to, it's 100 days apparently before we get back to Melbourne, so looking forward to getting back in the car and racing."
He added that despite his 2011 form, he was sure that he would be a more competitive prospect in 2012, saying: "The next most important race is Melbourne and next year will be different to this year, because that's just the way I'm sure things will go.
"I'm very, very optimistic and positive that I'll have a very, very strong season and that's what I'm going to look forward to. I'm still driving very, very well."
He added: "It's an extremely fine line before you start to unlock a few other things that can make your season go from good, which was this year, to great, and that's what I need to be able to try and do."
And he suggested that his single win in 2011, coming in the season finale in Brazil, would prove to be a much-needed boost for him, despite him taking the lead only when Vettel developed a gearbox issue.
"I think [the victory] was brewing off the back of a few events where, on the surface it might not have looked that I might have been challenging, but there were certain things coming that I was getting more confident about," he appeased.
"Yes, Seb had to manage an issue but irrespective of that, you still need to pounce and capitalise on other people's misfortunes. That's motor sport at the end of the day."
Webber's win was enough to elevate him to third in the final championship standings, albeit over 100 points behind team mate Vettel.
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