Mark Webber has a car capable of winning in Melbourne

RED Bull Racing chief Christian Horner is confident Mark Webber has a car capable of winning his home grand prix.

MOTORSPORT: Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner is confident Mark Webber has a car capable of winning his home grand prix for the first time.

Horner is happy with how the new RB8 has progressed in testing, giving Webber every chance of surpassing his best result at Albert Park this Sunday.

Webber placed fifth in 2002, 2005, and again last year, when teammate Sebastian Vettel won the race en route to a second world championship.

Some late aerodynamic tweaking _ particularly an exhaust moved as far forward as possible _ has added speed to the benchmark Formula One team's vehicle and much will be revealed when the cars hit the track for practice on Friday.

"We've managed to tick most of the boxes that we wanted," Horner said. "Of course, you never know what your opponents are up to and there's quite a bit of gamesmanship that goes on at this time of year. But we'll soon know . . . what the pecking order is."

Webber won only one GP last season _ the final race in Brazil _ while Vettel swept to 11 victories and a landslide drivers' championship victory.

Now 35, the Australian has seven career GP wins but time appears to be running out if he wants to fulfill his dream of winning in Australia.

He faces his toughest battles this season from within, as Vettel should remain the sport's dominant force. And young compatriot Daniel Ricciardo is auditioning as perhaps Webber's replacement, driving with Red Bull's B-team, Toro Rosso, this season.

Horner, meanwhile, sees McLaren's Jenson Button as the biggest threat this year.