Formula One: Finally the Red Bull duo becomes friends
Before the beginning of the 2011 Formula One season, the two Red Bull drivers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have vowed to tune up their relationship with each other. Webber insisted earlier this week that he has patched up the ever so stressed relationship
with his team-mate and hopes to see a far better season ahead for the two.
The 2010 calendar saw the two having very bitter relations with each other. There have been more than many instances when the duo’s rivalry and enmity came to the forefront and was very obvious to everyone. The incident at the Turkish Grand Prix, the other
one at the Silverstone track and finally the exchange of several heated words near the end of the season demonstrated a lot of rift between the two.
At the Istanbul track, when Webber and Vettel were heading for a certain 1-2 finish for the team, the two crashed into each other in chase of a race win. Owing to the poor collision, Vettel had to retire from the race while Webber lost the race win and settled
behind the two McLaren drivers, for third place. Following the race, war of words began between the two drivers as they kept on blaming each other for what happened while the team backed Vettel.
The other very poor incident of the season came up between the two at the British Grand Prix, when the team handed the front wing of Webber’s new car to Vettel. As Webber took it very offensively, the team tried to clear the situation saying that since Vettel
stood at a better place in the points’ tally therefore the team has tried to facilitate him.
Ultimately, as the season reached its last and final stage, Webber declared very openly that the team will be more convenient to see Vettel winning the championship. He also stated that due to the age factor, Red Bull sees Vettel, 23-year-old as a bright
future for the team while Webber, 34, is treated as a second driver in the team.
However, as the 2010 season has ended and Vettel has proved himself to be a better racer, winning the championship only after his third full season in the sport, Webber declared that all has been settled for good now. He assured that the pair has worked
through all their differences and are ready to enter the next season with a new understanding and tolerance for each other.
While talking to the media earlier this week he stated, "Our relationship is good now. At the end of the year it was good to have a chat about things now and push a few things away that happened. It is hard to talk closely to each other during the season
in the heat of the battle and over the winter we will have more time to build for the season and do a better job without any friction."
It is largely believed that the basic reason of the rivalry between the two was the biased behaviour of the team management that has always supported Vettel over Webber. This attitude of the team not only raised rivalry between the two but also made the
championship battle tougher for the team. With the fastest car of the season and two of the best drivers of the 2010 grid, both the titles should have been actually decided far earlier in the season.
However, now explaining the situation Webber said that with the kind of competition this season offered it was really hard to avoid this sort of rivalry,
"People have to understand it only happens once every 10-15 years where you have two drivers in one team going for a championship."
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