Christian Horner Praises Mark Webber
Red Bull’s Team Principal, Christian Horner, believes his ace driver, Mark Webber, will come back to win the Championship title in 2011.
Although Webber lost the 2010 title to his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, after a major upset at the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi on Sunday November 12, the Red Bull chieftain defended Webber’s impressive driving record.
Indeed, the 34-year-old Australian enjoyed one of the best years of his F1 career, winning four out of seven races during the middle of the season. This fact was not lost on the team principal who praised Webber’s acumen.
"He is driving tremendously well,” said Horner. “This year he has performed in an exceptionally hard year and I think there are lessons that he will take out of 2010 that he will build on in 2011.”
Going into the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, many in the F1 world were flabbergasted by Red Bull’s unorthodox decision
not to back Webber for the championship bid. Given that he only trailed Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by eight points, compared to Vettel’s 15-point deficit, pundits and fans alike thought that by hedging their bets, Red Bull was rolling the dice in a
dangerous gamble.
Ultimately, it was Ferrari’s fear of Webber that led to their undoing. Determined to counter the Australian’s every move, they made the ill-fated decision to pit Alonso early on during the competition. The unforeseen result was that the Spaniard was stuck
behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov for the remainder of the race, paving the way for Vettel’s ultimate victory.
The fact that the Ferrari leadership was so jittery and skittish regarding what Webber was up to on the Yas Marina circuit, served as clear evidence as to who they thought was the better of the Red Bull drivers. In light of this, it would seem Vettel owes
his championship victory less to his own skills then he does to Webber's.
Interestingly, Horner seemed to agree with his rival’s assessment. Citing the fact that the “only time Sebastian led the championship was after Abu Dhabi," the Red Bull principal’s not-so-subtle remark was a strong indication of whom he believed was the
more talented of his drivers.
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