Red Bull must now choose Webber for title run-in
Surely Red Bull must now be thinking of putting all their faith and efforts into Mark Webber for the duration of the Championship?
At this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, Webber consolidated his title charge at the expense of Sebastian Vettel who once again proved that he needs to improve his temprement before he can think of a serious title challenge.
However, things did not go all Webber’s way as he fluffed the start and subsequently had to settle for 2nd place behind Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren.
In very changable conditions, Webber went from 1st to 6th by the first corner but fought back when Vettel hit Jenson Button going into the Bus-stop chicane. Only a piece of good fortune when Robert Kubica overshot his pit-box made sure that Webber secured 2nd place and remains on-course for a Championship challenge as we enter the final 6 rounds.
Completely in contrast to Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel had an absolute shocker of a race. The best part of his race was the start and even then he managed to drop a place going into turn 1. Having spent a long-time behind Jenson Button, Vettel let his temprement get the better of him once again. Sizing-up a move on Button, Vettel swerved violently, lost the back end and ploughed straight into the side of the Englishman. Vettel did receive a drive-through penalty but that’s scant consolation for the McLaren driver.
Vettel did concede that the incident was his fault.
“I was faster than him, I knew it would be close. I tried to outbrake him on the outside but then I lost the braking and I couldn’t control the car and crashed into him, ending my race and his.”
Back in 14th position after his penalty, Vettel then passed Tonio Liuzzi but failed to complete the move and ended up puncturing his left-rear and having to endure a whole lap of the 4.1 mile Spa circuit on 3 wheels.
As if all this wasn’t bad enough for the German, he then chose the extreme wet tyres towards the end when it was clearly nowhere near wet enough. After all this, Vettel finished 15th with only the new teams behind him. Just to add insult to injury, Vettel’s fastest lap was a full 1.5 seconds slower than his team-mates.
Vettel now finds himself 28 points behind his team mate, who lies 2nd just 3 points behind Hamilton at the top of the standings.
Having had very contrasting races, Webber admitted that the team may soon have to pick a driver to favour.
“It’s still too early at the moment, but maybe not far away. We have a good trophy cabinet but not one like McLaren’s. So it depends on how hungry we are to do that.”
Despite Webber’s views, team boss Christian Horner has refused to commit to the Australian.
“There are 150 points still available.
The front two guys have broken away a little from the rest of the pack but I still think it’s too early to be contemplating favouritism. All five are still in this championship.”
After all the conflicting views about how Red Bull would perform at Spa, they showed that they still have a very strong pace for the rest of the season. Monza is somewhat in the same mould as Spa so I expect the team to be competitive but maybe not dominating in two weeks time.
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Choosing an experienced driver who has stepped up to the plate time and time again over a young hot-head who has blown two championships in as many years when having had them handed on a plate is a no-brainer.
Whether Christian Horner, who seems to prefer the German decided to play ball is another story.
Fact is the two Red Bull drivers should be miles clear of their rivals and if neither wins the title it will be a shambolic display.