Mark Webber believes that the extended gap prior to the first grand prix in Melbourne, following the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix, is unlikely to have a significant effect on the competitive order of the teams.
Red Bull and Ferrari have stood out as two of the early favorites with their cars having performed strongly in the first three preseason tests. While Bahrain's omission means the season will not now begin until March 27 in Melbourne, buying the teams extra time to prepare, Webber says Red Bull would have been ready to race had the Sakhir event gone ahead as scheduled.
"Everybody, to be honest, doesn't matter what team or what situation you are in, you need a little more time," said Webber. "I think we are absolutely prepared to race in two weeks and we would have been there, of course, and obviously you've got another 10 days headroom, I suppose.
"The freight has probably got to leave pretty early to Melbourne so, you know, same for everybody, swings and roundabouts. I don't think having that extra two weeks is going to make a huge difference to many teams for the first result in Melbourne. It might do in terms of the races after that, in terms of being a little bit more prepared."
Webber added that while he was looking forward to the start of the season in Bahrain, he is happy that his campaign will now kick off on home territory.
"It would have been nice to go to Bahrain but we have to wait a bit longer to have our first race and that just happens to be my home race so, as always, looking forward to going down there," he said. "It's a sensational event and and we're in good shape as a team, so I hope to go there – and have a very good result, of course!"