Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber has said he is looking forward to F1 2012 and trying to put a 'tricky' 2011 in the past.

Webber will debut the new RB8 on Tuesday at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain and he added that he is 'very excited' about driving the car for the very first time.

“It's a huge amount of work that has gone into it as always with a new car,” said the Aussie. “The initial running is really about getting as much information as we can, learning what the car strengths are, where some of its weaknesses might be and then we need to work on those very, very quickly.

“We don't have much testing before we get to Melbourne [for the first race] and before we know it the winter programme will be over. It is a big responsibility and one that I'm looking forward to.”

After being completely overshadowed by team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 2011, Webber is, however, aware that he needs to bounce back: “I think off the back of last year many sportsmen or women when you don't get the most out of a situation you always want to come back and improve and do a better job,” he continued.

“The bar has been lifted very, very high in the last few seasons and it's the challenge I'm looking forward to. I've had a really good winter and prepared for the season as best I can so I'm looking forward to the new season, I just cannot wait to get racing. We can talk a lot about it but we need to get on the track.”

So what positives did he take away from 2011?

“Last year wasn't an amazing season, but it wasn't too bad for me [either],” he added. “I still managed to finish third in the Drivers' Championship, not far off second with Jenson there, also it was a great way for me to finish the year with the victory in Brazil.

“We're always learning as athletes and I'm looking forward to 2012,” he reiterated, “it's got some great opportunities for me.

“You know the old cliché take each race as it comes but that's how it will be initially and we'll go from there.”

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