Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner is confident Mark Webber can begin his 2012 Formula 1 campaign much stronger than he started last year.
After fighting for the 2010 title, Webber had a difficult '11 season and was overshadowed by teammate Sebastian Vettel, who dominated the championship. Horner predicted at the end of the last campaign that Webber would revitalize himself over the winter, and reckons the evidence from testing is that the Australian has done exactly that.
"I think Mark has had a good winter," said Horner. "I think he has a good preseason and I think he goes to Melbourne with a spring in his step – which wasn't the case last year. He is in a good frame of mind and hopefully he can have a strong season."
There were several tense intra-team flash points in 2010 when both Vettel and Webber were chasing the title for Red Bull. But asked if the prospect of a more competitive Webber would make his life difficult, Horner replied: "Not at all. We have got two really competitive drivers and we expect them to push each other but they both know that the team is the most important thing."