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No ’emergency meetings’ after Nurburgring – Horner

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner insists there will be no emergency meetings or panicking after Sunday’s second consecutive failure by a Red Bull driver to win an F1 race.

Horner was speaking after Mark Webber, third, and championship leader Sebastian Vettel, fourth at the Nurburgring, called on the team to up its game after losing first to Ferrari at Silverstone and then McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on Sunday.

“Yes, we can push forward the development programme but we are not panicking because of two races without a win,” Horner is quoted by O Estado de S.Paulo.

Der Spiegal correspondent Ralf Bach said Horner “smiled” when he heard the word ‘crisis’ in the wake of the German result.

“After ten of the 19 races, Sebastian leads with 77 points over Mark. He (Vettel) could go on holiday for three races and still be ahead,” said the Briton.

Indeed, Vettel’s closest non-Red Bull challenger is Hamilton, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is 86 points behind with nine races to go.

“It would be presumptuous to believe in the title,” the Spaniard said. “I prefer to concentrate on every single race.”

Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button is 107 points behind, and after another technical retirement said on Sunday: “I don’t think we’re fighting for the championship anymore.”

Hamilton agreed that the fight will be “very, very, very hard”, while Alonso vowed to keep the pressure on.

“For sure it’s not as easy for them (Red Bull) as when they were one second in front of everyone.

“When you are only a couple of tenths ahead, it’s not the same confidence any more and there is a possibility for mistakes,” he said.

German pundit Hans-Joachim Stuck thinks the “week-long” pressure of his home race got to Vettel, who was uncharacteristically off the front row and podium at the Nurburgring.

And David Coulthard told the Telegraph: “The jury is still out on his racing in traffic.”

Source: GMM

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