Red Bull to continue backing both drivers in Brazil 27 Oct 2010
Team principal Christian Horner has insisted Red Bull will not be favouring Mark Webber over Sebastian Vettel at the championship’s penultimate round in Brazil, despite the Australian’s points advantage following their double DNF in Korea.
Webber is second in the standings, trailing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by 11 points, while Vettel is a further 14 adrift, in fourth behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Horner, however, says that with 50 points still available, it is too early to be backing one man.
"We have two fantastic drivers and we will continue to support both equally in line with Red Bull’s credible sporting ethos,” he told the team’s official site. “As we saw in Korea it is impossible to predict what will happen with five drivers being so closely in contention. For example, with ten laps to go Sebastian had moved into the lead of the championship, with Alonso then moving into the lead following our bad luck. It just goes to show that situations can change very quickly.”
Ferrari have made no secret of the fact that Felipe Massa is now playing a supporting role to Alonso’s title campaign, and after Jenson Button’s disappointing showing at Yeongam, many have predicted McLaren will now throw their weight behind Hamilton.
For Red Bull, the situation is different. Both Vettel and Webber have a realistic shot at the title, but allowing them to race could play into the hands of their rivals, in much the same way as Alonso and Hamilton’s 2007 rivalry at McLaren helped that year’s championship go to Kimi Raikkonen.
For now, though, Horner says he will let the numbers do the talking: “Ultimately as we now approach the end of the championship, the mathematics will speak for themselves and I’m certain that both drivers will do everything possible to achieve the best result for the team."
Whatever the outcome of the drivers’ championship, Red Bull remain favourites for the constructors’ crown. They head McLaren 426 points to 399.
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