Championship leader Mark Webber is confident his Red Bull Racing team will be "very competitive" at the Japanese Grand Prix next week. The Australian admitted, however, that rival Ferrari has the momentum following Fernando Alonso's victories in Italy and Singapore.
"I'm optimistic we can do well in Japan and the team did well there last year," said Webber. "The momentum is currently with Ferrari going into the race, as they have had two victories on the bounce, but the points situation is still very open."
Webber is currently 11 points ahead of Alonso with four races to go, and the Red Bull driver conceded it was nice to have the gap, even if it's a small one.
"It's nice that I have a little buffer, it's not very big but it's something I would rather have than not," he said. "Suzuka is a track that all the drivers love and I'm looking forward to it. I think we will be very competitive; we need to go there and get the maximum out of what we have."
Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel also reckons Red Bull will be strong at Suzuka, although he is also expecting the opposition to be very competitive, too.
"Suzuka should suit our car, but we still have to go there and prove it," he said. "I think we have a very competitive car this year on all circuits, so we can be confident. Last year was very good and I think we should get a good result again.
"Ferrari has made a step forward in the last couple of races, so they will be strong and don't forget McLaren. There are still a lot of drivers fighting for the title and they are very close to each other, it's tight and a lot of things can still happen. We need to make sure we get the best out of ourselves and then we will see."