Formula One - No Favours at Red Bull says Christian Horner
The British Grand Prix has once again raised the question of who is being favoured at Red Bull. Earlier, Christian Horner had played down the rumours of favouring Sebastian Vettel and said that both drivers are the same and facilitated equally.
Following the incidents at the Turkish GP and later at Silverstone this weekend where Mark Webber won, rumours have been making rounds that the team’s owner will prefer Sebastian Vettel to win the world title, instead of Mark Webber who is 33 years old and does not have too much time on his side.
Red Bull team boss Horner remains impartial or at least is saying that both drivers in the team are given equal opportunities, but still many in the paddock are of the opinion that various decisions are still forced on him.
Webber reignited the tension within the team, when after winning the race he could be heard off the team radio saying “Not bad for a No 2 driver”. Those comments were aimed towards Horner, as Webber was quite upset about a part from his car being transferred to Vettel’s car just before qualifying. Webber said that if he would have known that he would be treated this way he would have not put pen to paper on a contract extension, but he will soon have a talk with Horner and sort things out.
Horner insisted that the decision to replace the part from Webber’s to Vettel’s car was made for the right reasons, and the team owners did not have anything to with that.
He added that there has never been any pressure from the top to favour any driver, the team has always maintained that the 2 drivers are racing for the same cause and there is no reason to differentiate between the two. He said that he had no talks with Marko the company’s Motorsport Advisor or anyone at the top regarding the decision to make the wing change. He went on to say that it was only a decision that was technically right and he had discussed it with Adrian Newey.
He said that he regrets not discussing the decision with Mark Webber before qualifying and had he done that, it would have spared him and the team from all the problems and rumours.
Horner also rubbished the rumours that Mark Webber’s side of the garage had been taunting Vettel’s side after the race. He said it is silly to even believe such a thing, he said that the pit crew and mechanics at Red Bull are very professional and the results on the track speak for themselves.
He added that there is only one set of cechanics that work for both drivers, and all the bonuses received from race and championship wins are equally distributed among all so there are no favours at all in any way.
Horner insisted that things are very good in the team and after the race; Vettel and Webber were signing autographs at a party he hosted at his home after the race, and said that he and Webber will settle their differences soon.
Horner said that he and Mark have always had a great relationship and he has known him for more than 10 years, and he also has immense respect and support for Sebastian.
Mark Webber has openly expressed his annoyance over the whole issue, while earlier when Vettel tried to overtake him at Turkey and eventually cost him the race Webber had said I know he was at fault but we would have to agree to disagree. So all things do point to disharmony in the Red Bull ranks which is in fact good news to other teams who have been trying everything they can to outthink the Red Bulls and if this can destroy the fabric of the team other teams will not really mind that.
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