- 03 Jun 10, 00:55#201706
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motors ... crash.html
A bid to keep Mark Webber in line to allow Vettel to win the championship? Much the same as Ferrari extending Massa's contract in Raikkonen's championship year!
Mark Webber’s comments in the wake of Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix will not affect his future at Red Bull, with the Milton Keynes-based team set to confirm that the Australian has signed a new contract prior to the race in Montreal next week.
In the run-up to last weekend, the surprise championship leader had been hotly-tipped to stay beyond his current one-year deal. Quizzed on the subject last week Red Bull team principal Christian Horner all but confirmed an extension. “Mark is an important member of the team,” Horner said. “It’s the usual thing. If it is not broken, don’t fix it.”
That, though, was before the Australian collided disastrously with team-mate Sebastian Vettel as the pair vied for the lead in Turkey, sending the German spinning out of the race and dropping from first to third himself.
Afterwards, Webber hinted darkly that the team might have been favouring Vettel and encouraged journalists to “dig” into the reasons why he appeared suddenly to be slower than his team-mate.
The fallout from those comments has been intense with speculation that by casting such aspersions Webber might have cost himself a contract extension.
Others felt the Australian might no longer wish to drive for a team whose senior figures, men such as Red Bull motorsport adviser Helmut Marko, publicly backed Vettel in the immediate aftermath. The 22-year-old German is the sport’s youngest ever race winner and a huge marketing tool for the energy drinks company.
Red Bull’s own website has been awash with angry comments about the team’s lack of support for Webber in public.
However, it is understood that Webber has cleared the air with Red Bull’s management and will stay beyond the current season.
With the McLaren pair of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton — who have managed to escape relatively unscathed from their own disagreement over a race incident on Sunday — keen to exploit the rift, Red Bull set about yesterday trying to repair some of the damage.
Horner wrote an open letter to fans on the team’s forum and also released a statement to the media saying the two drivers were equally to blame for the collision, adding that “Dr Marko also fully shares this view.”
When asked for Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s thoughts on the matter, Horner said: “Dietrich has always supported both drivers equally and summed it up by saying, ‘---- happens...’.”
Webber, meanwhile, has vowed not to let the situation spiral out of control, calling for the team to be united in the face of growing pressure from without.
“Seb and I will sit down and have a chat about it because we need to avoid costly slip-ups like this in the future,” he said. “People have to remember that we are still a very young team. To take McLaren on week in, week out is not an easy task, but one that Red Bull is hungry for.
“Teams like Ferrari and McLaren have had these days. They know how tough it can be when you have some adversity. We need to bounce back and be united as a team, and keep going.”
A bid to keep Mark Webber in line to allow Vettel to win the championship? Much the same as Ferrari extending Massa's contract in Raikkonen's championship year!
myownalias • The Englishman in Kansas • Twitter: @myownalias
