Hot spot puts Webber in British GP fitness race.

Mark Webber expects to be fit for this weekend's British Grand Prix, but will hope that his Williams team can trace the source of exceptional heat that crept into his cockpit during the French round, leaving him with burns to his backside for the second time in his F1 career.

The Australian complained about the problem shortly after his first scheduled pit-stop at Magny-Cours, and pitted early second time around so that his crew could douse his seat with cold water in an attempt to reduce the burning sensation. The cure only partly worked, leaving an uncomfortable Webber to request more water be added at his subsequent stops.

Rather than abandon the race, however, the Australian plugged away to a twelfth-place finish in order to secure a decent qualifying slot for this weekend's Silverstone round.

"My race was hampered today by a huge problem I had with heat in the cockpit area," he confirmed, "It became so intense that I had to ask for water to be poured in around my seat at the pit-stops. It was very uncomfortable to race in that condition and, as a result, I now have a large raw burn on my right hip, which the doctor has had to treat."

The rising temperatures made life more miserable for Webber after the latest updates to his FW27-BMW failed to improve the car's form. A lowly qualifying position could not be turned around in the race, and the Williams team heads for its home race knowing that a cure needs to be found.

"The race itself was difficult because, after starting from poor grid position, we were struggling at the back of the pack," Webber confirmed, "We have a lot of work to do."

The Australian heads to the British Grand Prix expecting a large following, and hoping to be able to at least get back in the points at a circuit he regards a second home venue in F1.

"Silverstone is always a place I enjoy going to," he revealed, "Because I've lived in England for a long time, I have many friends that always come to support the teams I have competed for at the British Grand Prix.

"I have many good memories of Silverstone too. In 1997, I raced in F3 for Alan Docking Racing, whose team was based there, and I won there when I was driving in F3000. Last year's F1 race was good and, last but not least, home is only 40 minutes away!

"The circuit itself is massively demanding. It's a high-speed circuit, not too dissimilar to Barcelona. As we know, weather can play a huge role at Silverstone, but it would be good to have decent conditions. I really hope we'll be more competitive next weekend and have a good race for one of the team's home GPs."

Webber last endured unpleasant cockpit conditions in his penultimate race for Jaguar, at the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix. On that occasion, the team discovered a loose chassis fixing inside the cockpit, which led to hot air from the engine being able to enter the area and heat the Aussie's seat to a point which became unbearable. On that occasion, he retired from the race.