Red Bull is still not willing to slot Mark Webber into a supporting role after Sunday’s Korean grand prix.
With the Australian on pole but 60 points behind Fernando Alonso’s championship lead prior to Sunday’s race, the team said it would not be imposing team orders in a bid to boost teammate Sebastian Vettel’s title chances.
The situation is now different. After Korea, Vettel is now the championsip leader, while Webber’s points gap is even slightly bigger.
But when asked about the need for team orders, team boss Christian Horner said on Sunday: “It’s still too early.
“The gap is pretty big but Mark still has a mathematical chance,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport. “So it would be wrong of us to ask Mark to do that (follow team orders).”
Horner said the opening lap in Korea was evidence that Vettel and Webber can fight fairly for position without interference.
“It’s always nerve wracking when you see your two cars so close to one another, but they’ve done it many times before and (on Sunday) they fought perfectly down to turn three,” he said.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is one point further up the standings than Webber, but the Briton thinks his championship is now over after finishing just tenth on Sunday.
“In terms of winning, I think that’s it for us,” he said.
“We were still in the fight up until now but it’s too far away (now).”
It’s also looking grim for Ferrari’s Alonso, because even though the points gap to Vettel is only 6 points, it is Red Bull who are enjoying a position of clear dominance.
“Now we need to score seven points more than Sebastian, which will be extremely tough but we believe we can do it,” said the Spaniard.
Source:GMM
