Formula One News » Webber: Backing best chance not far away Posted on 31/08/2010
Mark Webber knows better than to call out his team to commit to backing him exclusively for the 2010 F1 world title, but is also acutely aware that there needs to be a time when the team focuses its attention on one driver.
Having seen RBR’s pursuit of Jenson Button and Brawn GP come up short in 2009 after refusing to back either himself or team-mate Sebastian Vettel down the stretch, Webber is hoping that his increased advantage over the German will lead to the call going his way this season. The Australian finished second to Lewis Hamilton in the weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, ceding the championship lead back to the McLaren man in the process, and suggested that the time was coming for RBR to change its strategy.
“McLaren have won many championships, so they have a pretty good trophy cabinet,” he reasoned, “Red Bull have a good trophy cabinet, but not one like McLaren’s, so it depends on how hungry we are to try and do that.
“I think it’s too early, at the moment, [to start backing one driver over his team-mate] but, having said that, maybe there is a different strategy compared to McLaren. It’s still too early at the moment, but it’s not far away, I would say.”
Webber’s advantage over Vettel stretched to 20 points after the German failed to score in Belgium, and the gap back to McLaren’s current world champion, Jenson Button grew even further after he was punted out of the event by the second RB6. Despite the Briton falling 35 points off the overall lead, however, team-mate Hamilton does not believe that he – or any one of the five drivers who went to Spa as a title contender – should be counted out, or favoured, just yet.
“Jenson was very unfortunate today,” the Briton noted, “Obviously, the team do the best they can possibly do, to the maximum for each of us. There’s no more they could do. I get the same treatment as Jenson, and vice-versa, and that enables us both to score maximum points, so I don’t feel there should be any preferential treatment.
“You’ve seen in the last few races how quickly things can change, so we still have a long way to go. There are still many points to be grabbed by any of us drivers who are fighting for the championship – I still think the championship is open.”
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