Three years ago, fifth place at the Australian Grand Prix brought elation for Mark Webber.

On Sunday, the same result brought frustration despite the Australian equalling his best ever F1 performance.

Buoyed by a sizzling qualifying lap and starting from third place on the grid, Webber admitted he thought he was in line for a podium finish.

Instead he was beaten by his old car - David Coulthard steering the Red Bull Racing outfit which took over ill-fated Jaguar into fourth place after outsprinting the Australian off the starting grid.

And second-placed Rubens Barrichello and third-placed Fernando Alonso both snuck under Webber with superior pit stops, prompting the 28-year-old to label Sunday's performance as "average".

"It could have been better," Webber said.

"We got done in the pits and it should have been a better result.

"Fifth would have been good until we started the race, then I wanted more.

"Reliability was strong today so that was a good thing, but once you get going you always want more, so that was the frustrating thing."

Webber had spent all weekend hosing down talk of a spectacular debut for Williams.

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