Mark Webber says that he will find it difficult to overhaul championship leader Jenson Button over the closing races of the season.
Aussie reckons Red Bull might struggle on upcoming tracks
Mark Webber says that he and Red Bull will find it difficult to overhaul world championship leaders Jenson Button and Brawn GP over the closing races of the season.
The Australian and team-mate Sebastian Vettel are seen by many as favourites for victory at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix given that Red Bull's RB5 car appears best suited to the Spa circuit.
However, the Australian's own championship challenge stalled last time out in Valencia when a ninth-place finish left him failing to pick up any points.
Button himself could only finish seventh in the European Grand Prix although the Englishman still holds a 20.5-point lead over Webber in the drivers' championship with six races, including Sunday's, remaining.
Webber has otherwise enjoyed a fine summer with a string of podium finishes capped by a breakthrough win in Germany.
Even so, he remains cautious on his own title chances and predicted that Red Bull may be at a disadvantage compared with their main rivals on upcoming tracks.
Webber, who turned 33 on Thursday, said: "It's certainly not impossible.
"But it's going to be tough when you look at what happened in Valencia, and we've Singapore and Abu Dhabi to come.
"If you had the middle section of races finishing the year we'd be giving it a nudge.
"But it's going to be harder for us given the way the championship finishes, and that's not an excuse. That's the way it is.
"We capitalised when the tracks suited us. We managed to get one-twos."
Mistakes
Button owes his lead to the six victories he scored in the first seven races of the season but Brawn GP subsequently struggled prior to team-mate Rubens Barrichello's victory in Valencia.
In the meantime Red Bull assumed the role of their main challenger thanks to back-to-back one-two finishes in Britain and Germany.
However, with McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari in the hunt once more after poor starts to the season, the sport's sheer competitiveness means that a front-running team can gain the edge on a track and in conditions which particularly suits their car.
No driver has therefore been able to stamp his mark on the season since Button's stunning start, with Webber acknowledging that mistakes from the leaders may well be his best bet.
"From Monaco onwards it looked like Jenson was going to make it (the title race) massively boring," he explained.
"But it's venue to venue. It is see-sawing because the cars are sensitive and we have different track temperatures.
"It's theirs to lose, though, we know that. They are the hunted and we have a lot to gain on them. That's obvious.
"We just need a phenomenal amount of points and a very consistent run and then for them to have a rough run to get to the top of the championships.
"But it's not impossible because as we know things can change very fast, and there are a lot of points to go.
"There will always be pressure on the guy leading until he has won it, and that's what I'm mindful of as well."
