Webber surprised by seventh on grid.

Mark Webber extended his envious home record in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix with his fourth top ten starting position in a row around Albert Park, a seventh place on the grid that gives hope to Red Bull of a potential points finish for the first round of the season.

Once again lining up as Australia's sole representative on the Formula 1 grid, Webber didn't disappoint the fans on his Red Bull debut with an impressive performance in all three qualifying sessions that belied the team's somewhat lukewarm pre-season outings, as well as shame David Coulthard's effort down in 19th place.

Indeed, no-one was more surprised than Webber to have found some missing speed, the former Williams driver praising Red Bull for repairing his car following a transmission problem in practice.

"I didn't think I'd be seventh, so it's great," he said. "We lost time with a transmission problem yesterday, but the guys worked really hard last night, did a good job and we've got something out of it. We've done a lot of testing over the winter break, but it's always interesting to actually get into the ring at the first race and see where we are."

Still, while Webber's recent qualifying record around Albert Park, which includes two seventh places, a sixth and a third, are unmistakable, his finishing history is less notable having scored two fifth places but also three retirements from strong positions. As such, Webber is remaining tight-lipped on his aspirations for the race and is curious to see whether his Red Bull can deliver over a 58 lap distance.

"There's still a long way to go tomorrow, we have to see if we can deliver in the race - it should be an interesting grand prix."