Mark Webber has singled out tyres as the crucial difference between his stellar 2010 season and a drop of performance so far this year.
The Australian, famous in the paddock for refusing to roll out “a shopping list of excuses”, was speaking from the St Lawrence river as he did a day of kayaking ahead of the Montreal weekend.

“You’ll never find me fishing. I need to push myself,” said the 34-year-old.

He has sat in the sister Red Bull in 2011 while his teammate and reigning champion Sebastian Vettel won 5 of the 6 races so far.

“I hope I can continue my momentum of encouraging results and I hope to get my first win soon,” he told rds.ca, “because I was winning quite often last year.”

Once again explaining his reluctance to make excuses, Webber pointed to the tyres as a factor in 2011.

“They are very different and the drivers are very sensitive to that (change),” he said, referring to the switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli.

“It’s like a golfer or a tennis player changing his equipment. When you’re at this level and trying to gain an edge with tiny details, the small changes can make big differences.

“But it’s up to the drivers to adapt,” added Webber.

By the same media outlet, Vettel on Wednesday was asked what has made the difference for him in 2011.

“There is not one ingredient which, alone, turns the tide,” the German insisted. “It is the details, the little things, that all come together to make a big difference.”

The likelihood that F1 will be broadcast in high definition next year has taken a backwards step.

Bernie Ecclestone boosted the hopes of F1′s global television audience in September when he indicated the sport will be moving to HD “probably next year”.

But in an interview with Christian Sylt and Caroline Reid, the F1 chief executive now insists he is “not sure” the 2011 feed will be broadcast in HD.

One of the main problems, he indicated, is that high definition cameras are too big to be installed in the cars for the popular on-board footage.

That would mean the F1 feed is “50 per cent HD and 50 per cent standard definition”, the 80-year-old Briton is quoted by Germany’s motorsport-total.com.

Sylt and Reid hypothesise that Ecclestone’s reluctance to embrace the new television technology could be related to the failure of his multi-channel digital feed for F1 in the 90s.

Mark Webber has admitted he has “no idea” whether Red Bull will deploy a team strategy to help him win the 2010 world championship.

Many pundits believe his teammate Sebastian Vettel should now be backing Webber’s campaign to close the 11 point gap to Fernando Alonso with two races to run.

But, at least publicly, team boss Christian Horner insists Vettel will enjoy total equality in Brazil and Abu Dhabi while he is mathematically still able to win the championship.

Asked if he thinks the young German will, for example, try to overtake him at Interlagos this weekend, Webber told the Swiss newspaper Blick: “No idea.

“Up until now no one has spoken about it,” the Australian said in Sao Paulo.

“Perhaps we’ll talk about it at the first briefing on Thursday, or perhaps we won’t,” added Webber.

Former grand prix driver Alex Wurz, who is Austrian like the Red Bull brand, is the latest to advise the team that putting its eggs in the Webber basket is now the smartest strategy.

“They are in a position where they almost have to use team orders — for Webber and against Vettel,” he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

But Wurz acknowledged Red Bull’s reluctance, particularly as 23-year-old Vettel is regarded as the darling of the team.

“Webber firstly had to fight for equality this year,” he said. “In the end he imposed it, literally, with his performance.”

Meanwhile, Wurz does not believe Red Bull’s RB6 will enjoy a “mega advantage” this weekend at Interlagos.

“The slow middle sector will be good for Ferrari, and the McLaren will go well in the uphill section of the third sector.

“Then I see Abu Dhabi being Red Bull’s territory,” he added.

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he intends to leave formula one with a better legacy than Michael Schumacher’s.

Despite showing a reluctance to wade into the rekindled ‘Rascasse scandal’ of 2006, the McLaren driver admitted in Monaco that Schumacher’s reputation as a cheat is not one he wants to emulate.

“When I think about history, it is not just about me, it is about how my family raised me, where we came from,” British newspapers quote the 25-year-old as saying in Monaco.

“For that to be tainted by something like that would devastate me.”

When asked if he wants to be thought of in a better light than seven time world champion Schumacher, the 2008 world champion admitted: “Absolutely.

“I want to be remembered as a fair driver, a clean driver, one who always drove with his heart, who battled through thick and thin to score the points and the championships I will hopefully earn.”

He also denied he is now desperate to get back on terms with his teammate Jenson Button, who despite not always looking as quick as Hamilton has won two races and is leading the world championship.

“I don’t feel I’m at the point where I need to ‘turn it around’ because what needs turning around is just my fortunes,” insisted Hamilton.

(GMM)