Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber says he is reveling in his battle with teammate Sebastian Vettel -- and loving the fact he is proving a match for the German.
Webber beat a deeply disappointed Vettel at the Turkish Grand Prix, thanks to a brilliant second-stint performance, and the pair have been evenly matched throughout the year. And with Webber well aware of the hype surrounding Vettel since his switch from Scuderia Toro Rosso, the Australian insists that the pressure is currently on his rival to show more.
"I'm enjoying my battle with my teammate Sebastian Vettel this year," Webber wrote in his driver column for the BBC. "It's the first time I've had someone so quick as my teammate, and I've always said that's what it's all about -- at this level, you want to compare yourself to the best guys.
"Vettel is a hot property at the moment and he's done a great job to get where he is, but there's just a point and a half between us in the championship. If he's down the road by 40 seconds at the end of a grand prix and I've done my best, I can't do anything about that, and it's the same with him -- he did his best in Turkey and it wasn't enough.
"It's going to be like that for the rest of the season. There'll be weekends when I do better and weekends when he does but the most important thing is that we get the best out of the car.
"People ask me if I feel under pressure, but I think there's more pressure on Sebastian. In people's eyes, I'm not supposed to be doing what I'm doing. People think he's the new Schumacher and should be hosing it, but it's good that's not the case.
"I don't feel any more pressure than when I'm driving for 10th or 12th. There's no pressure to prove anything to anyone but myself."
Although Vettel was unhappy about getting beaten by his teammate at the Spanish and Turkish Grands Prix, Webber insists there is no friction between the two men.
"The last two or three races have gone well for me and less well for Sebastian but things are fine between us," he explained. "When you qualify a bit better and some of the races don't go your way, which has been the case in the last three races with Sebastian, you can get frustrated. I've been there.
"For the Red Bull team, it's uncharted waters having two drivers who are equal and fighting each other. It's a bit early in the season to throw in your lot with one guy. You could throw it all in with Sebastian, but he crashed in Monaco so you've still got to give both cars the best chance to get the best result possible.
"In terms of the championship, at this stage you have to let the drivers do what they do. In Turkey last time out, the team just let us get on with it, which is good.
"If Sebastian was 25 points ahead of me now it'd be a different ball game but he's not -- we're both still trying to close the gap on Jenson Button, which is proving pretty difficult."