Mark Webber continues to be surprised by his result in qualifying for the British Grand Prix, but insists that he can be a factor for points even if the podium eventually eludes him.

The Australian underlined the fact that the Red Bull Racing team had been quick throughout the build-up to qualifying, but admitted that he had not expected to wind up on the front row, where he will join first time polesitter Heikki Kovalainen.

"It is a bit of a surprise, actually," Webber commented, "We have been pretty strong most of the weekend, but we didn't realise how strong, I suppose, until we got into Q2. My 19.7 was pretty competitive but, obviously, these guys have a different strategy compared to us - especially in Q2.

"In relation to the rest of the guys we are normally competing against, we looked to have a nice margin over them, although obviously Fernando is still there and some of the other guys. It is a credit to the team, they have worked so hard over the last few weeks - like all the teams have - but this is only five per cent of the job done. We have got to race tomorrow and it could be wet as well, so there is a long way to go."

Webber admitted that he had feared that he would be starting towards the bottom of the top ten after finding his RB4 not to his liking at the start of Q3.

"I felt very comfortable in the car and could push it to the limit but, in the last part of qualifying, with the fuel in, I thought the guys must have put double the fuel in because the car was all over the place," he explained, "Then I saw people on the big screen, running wide, and obviously everybody was having trouble on that first run. On the second run, I got a lot better lap. My engineer told me I was P1 at Becketts, but I knew that wasn't going to continue. Heikki got the pole and I am happy for him, but we got second, and I was surprised that we hung in there.

"We've been quick, but we didn't expect to be on the front row. We changed the car overnight and it was much better this morning. You never, never know what the other guys are doing. You focus on yourself and that's what we've done. When it comes to the guys that we're racing in the championship - in 'our' championship - we've got a good buffer for the start of the race.

Joking that he had put money on Kovalainen - at decent odds - to take the win, Webber insisted that Red Bull would be a threat for points at a circuit that has served him well over the years, even if the conditions were likely to be even more unpredictable than in qualifying.

"I think it could easily be dry, but I've put 200 quid on Heikki at 23-1, so I'm in good shape," he laughed, "I'm hoping for a dry race. If it's wet, then we'll deal with that, but we seem to be pretty competitive in these conditions, so it's good. I can't wait for tomorrow now, I wish the race was now.

"It's not a good record for us here in terms of points finishes, so we've got a long way to go tomorrow, but, if we can keep the reliability that we've shown in the last few races, and focus on the job in hand, and not get above ourselves, [we can] get good solid points again. For sure, if we finish eighth, that would be a bit disappointing but, if other guys have strong days, you never know what can happen. If we can deliver tomorrow in a dry race, with good clean stops and a good start, we can get some good points."