Red Bull praises drivers' sportsmanship
The final race on the 2010 Formula One calendar ended this weekend in Abu Dhabi with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel winning the hotly-contested Drivers’ Championship.
As a result, Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull, praised Vettel and Mark Webber for their sportsmanship and professionalism throughout the 2010 season.
Webber went into the final race eight points behind the favoured Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who enjoyed a fifteen point lead over Vettel. But by the time the checkered flag dropped over the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday 14 November, Vettel had won first
place, while Alonso and Webber found themselves in the seventh and eighth positions respectively, coming out second and third in the world standings.
Despite some highly publicised rivalry between the two Red Bull drivers, Horner praised their efforts while standing by his controversial decision not to impose any team orders on his drivers.
According to autosport.com, Horner said, "Those guys have been awesome competitors this year. It has been done in a sporting manner on the track and it has been a tremendous year for Formula 1."
Standing apart from other teams like Ferrari and Mercedes, throughout the season, Red Bull consistently refused to throw its backing behind either of its drivers, making it explicitly clear that it wouldn’t issue any team instructions before any of the races.
While many were impressed with their sense of fair play, strategically, Red Bull’s risky decision jeopardized their championship bid, making it possible for Alonso to use the age-old divide-and-conquer technique to seize the title from Webber and Vettel,
who ran the risk of squabbling over the spoils of war.
Indeed, Red Bull’s plan hinged entirely on the level-headed professionalism of its drivers.
Given the outcome of the race in Abu Dhabi, Horner knows he made the right call. "To have done it the right way, to have won it on the circuit as well. I am just delighted with the way that Sebastian drove today. The fact that we did it without team orders,
the fact that at the end of the day the best guy won it, that's the way it should be."
While Horner was elated with Vettel’s victory, he praised Webber’s amazing efforts throughout the season, stating without hesitation that he would be back with Red Bull for many years to come.
"Mark is a big part of our team, he is a tremendous driver and he will have another chance next year. He's pushed Sebastian all the way this year and there has been very little to choose between them at times. It's see-sawed between the two of them.”
Winning both the Constructor’s as well as the Driver’s title, Red Bull has understood that high risk, skill and faith in its team members is what has kept them on track for an amazing season.
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