Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has described the relationship between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber as one of “healthy competition”.
The statement comes after the first one-two in the squad´s history at the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, where despite atrocious conditions the pair trounced the rest of the field. But rumours persist that the pair do not get on personally, following their coming-together in Fuji in 2007.
Marko was asked by Austrian journalists if he would describe the relationship as harmonic.
“No. Rather, I would call it healthy competition,” the Austrian is reported as saying by sportnet.at
The advisor, who is closely connected to the team´s patron Dietrich Mateschitz, also shed some light on speculation that Webber had started to copy Vettel´s set-up because his own was inferior. This runs contrary to normal practice, which is that the senior team member sets up the car for the junior.
“In the beginning Mark resisted using Vettel’s setup. He would not accept it. Now he uses it because it is just faster,” Marko said.
The pair´s body language was decidedly muted with each other as they celebrated the Chinese one-two. A brief handshake was all that passed between them, whereas it is now customary to see team-mates embracing after one-two results.
