Mark Webber

GEPA pictures

In Monte Carlo you came fourth, your best result of the season – and it was, according to your BBC column, the race you had the most fun with. How similar are the Valencia and Monaco courses? So similar that you are hoping to both have fun and get a top result?

Apart from the fact they’re both street circuits, they don’t have much else in common. Of course all pukka street circuits are surrounded by lots of unforgiving barriers, so keeping mistakes to a minimum is crucial. New circuits are always fun to learn and I’m sure this one won’t be any different.

Singapore, the second new race of the year, also has a street circuit. What special capabilities do you need in races without safety zones have?

I like to see drivers get punished for their mistakes, so street circuits without safety zones are great. Keeping the car on the black stuff is important and I’d like to think I generally do a good job of that.

David Coulthard is retiring, and next year Sebastian Vettel will be your new team-mate. Have you already met? And what impression have you had of him up to now?

Yes, Sebastian has been with Red Bull for a long time and has been with Toro Rosso for the past two seasons, so I do know him and we seem to get along fine. There’s no doubting that he’s very talented, and it’s great to see Red Bull giving him the chance to move up to Red Bull Racing next year.

The first half of the season went very well for you. In the first eight races you got on to the points table six times. The last three races didn’t go entirely how you wanted them to. What has to change for you to score points again?

The team needs to find more performance from RB4; Toyota and Renault have made some significant gains over the past few races and have been scoring points regularly with both their drivers. We need to do the same if we’re to challenge for fourth place in the constructors’ championship.

At the moment you’re ninth overall. What are your goals for the remaining seven races?

I’ll do exactly the same as I’ve done all season: go out and do the best job I can for the team.

A week before Valencia you took part in a race with less average speed: a charity cycling race near London. Did you take part in it just for fun, or does a racing driver always have to win?

Well, it was actually a charity cycle but not a race. We had about 150 riders and it all went very smoothly. There it’s not about winning, and although I do like competing in different events such as cross-country running, duathlons and mountain bikes races, it’s only for a bit of fun.