Red Bull boss backs Webber
April 14th, 2011Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has backed Mark Webber to start pushing team-mate Sebastian Vettel for race victories after a difficult start to the 2011 season.
While the German has proved un-catchable so far, winning both races this season, Webber has found himself down on pace and luck as he struggled to 5th and 4th in the Australian and Melbourne Grand Prix respectively, despite being amongst the favourites in each race according to sports bets placed.
But Horner believes Webber can still influence the outcome of the Championship, and cites the manner in which the Australian was able to battle back from a poor start to battling with Renault’s Nick Heidfeld for the 3rd in the final laps of the race in Malaysia as evidence he is capable of competing.
“I have no doubts his time will come this season, absolutely, in difficult weekends he has picked up a fifth (in Australia) and a fourth place and they will all count at the end of the day.” He said.
“He was 10th at the end of it (the first lap), so we decided to go aggressive with him, and went with a four-stop strategy. He needed to make it work, and his drive was a great recovery”.
Webber himself insisted he wouldn’t “lose any sleep” over the 28 point difference between him and his team-mate, and Horner believes the outcome of the first two races won’t affect him.
“Mark’s old enough to know how long the season is, and his points are invaluable.” He commented.
Having missed out on the Championship last year in controversial circumstances, sports betting outsider Webber will be keen to make amends this season. He is currently in joint third position with Lewis Hamilton in the drivers standings.
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