Mark Webber's Monaco Grand Prix victory has lifted him into serious F1 championship contention as he sits second in the points standings.
The Formula One drivers' championship has officially become a lottery and Mark Webber has a possible winning ticket.
The Australian's second win in three years at the Monaco Grand Prix has lifted him to equal second in the most even start to an F1 season in memory.
He shares that position with Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel - just three points behind the championship leader, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Webber became the sixth winner in six races this season and the 35-year-old's ability to run with defending champion Vettel so far gives him every chance of finally breaking through for the title he craves.
"Last year was a little bit of a mystery. The gap (between him and Vettel) sometimes was really extreme and it was hard to understand why it was like that," Webber said.
"The first five months were tough and I was in a different category from the other car. This year it's much more like 2009 or 2010."
In 2010 Webber came closest to winning the drivers' championship when he was involved in a four-way fight to the last race before Vettel won.
On Sunday, Webber swept to his eighth career GP victory - starting from pole, dealing with late rain and holding off Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg - he was particularly pleased with capitalising on grid and track position.
"It's a tough nut to crack this race, but we did it again. I had both hands on it today and I wasn't going to let go," he said.
"We need to be scoring all the time and when days like this come along you just cannot let them go at all.
"Consistency is nice, but wins are what win championships."
Red Bull boss Christian Horner praised Webber's ability to hold on to the lead in a nervous few laps as rain fell.
"It was a fantastic performance and a great drive from Mark," Horner said.
"The hardest position is when you are leading a group, especially around Monaco when it gets slippery because everyone else can judge their grip by looking at what you are doing.
"But Mark showed a lot of skill and maturity and drove brilliantly to close out the win."
Heading to the Canadian Grand Prix on June 10, the top six drivers are separated by 25 points - the amount of points for one race win.
