Time to iron out the wrinkles: Burning rubber

The privilege of being the first to test Red Bull's challenger for the upcoming Grand Prix season has been granted to veteran Mark Webber.

And it will be down to the 35-year-old Aussie, facing the exit door at the end of this season, to iron out the wrinkles on the RB8 before brilliant double champion Sebastian Vettel takes his turn for the final two days of testing in Jerez de la Frontera, in southern Spain, in two weeks' time.

After his hiatus season, with only one win to gifted teammate Vettel's 11, and after just scraping one point ahead of Fernando Alonso into third spot in the championship thanks to his victory in the final showdown in Brazil, Webber has something to prove.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is talking up his number two driver's chances of once again hitting the high spots as he did two seasons back. Behind the scenes in Formula One, the secret jostling among hopeful drivers for Webber's coveted seat is already underway and, I believe, short of him clinching the title — an unlikely event — Webber will find himself surplus to requirements in 2013.

That has not stopped Horner, a clever and astute man-manager, from extolling Webber's virtues and forecasting his rise from the doldrums as a series of wins waiting to happen again.

It was widely suspected Webber's triumph in Interlagos, made possible by Vettel's car suffering a mysterious gearbox problem and with the young German's second successive title already assured, was a thank-you for his loyalty. It was his seventh victory from 176 starts. My own cynicism suggests that was the case and Webber was handed a prize he couldn't otherwise have earned.

Even so, Horner proclaims: "It was great to see Mark win in Brazil." He adds: "It is very difficult being up against a driver of Sebastian's calibre, but Mark worked hard after a difficult start to the season and his performances grew."