Thursday, July 23, 2009

Seb and Web key to Red Bull success


Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner firmly believes he has the best driver line-up in Formula One.

The team's results over the last two races would certainly appear to underline Horner's remarks as Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have scored one-two results in Britain and Germany.

Vettel appeared to have the edge early on, but after securing his maiden triumph at the Nurburgring 11 days ago, Webber is certainly in the title picture now he is fully fit following a cycling accident in November that left him with a broken leg and shoulder.

Young German Vettel has narrowed the gap on championship leader Jenson Button to 21 points, with Australian Webber a further 1.5 points adrift.

With little to choose between them, it is the reason why Horner is refusing to back one over the other with eight races remaining.

Assessing the merits of both men, Horner could not be happier as he said: "When I saw Mark in early January, he'd forgotten to mention he'd also broken his shoulder.

"He couldn't put any weight on his right leg and I remember thinking 'This is going to be interesting!'

"He was resolute in his determination to drive the new car at its launch.

"After he drove it for the first time there was a look of relief in his eyes as I think he was unsure if he would still have the same feeling in his right foot and how he would cope with the bumps on track.

"From then on, there was never any doubt he was going to be fit for Melbourne (the season-opening Australian Grand Prix).

"In typical Aussie fashion, he carried the injury without letting on about how much pain and discomfort he was feeling.

"He's had great support and his physios and trainers have done a great job.

"I think it's only now we are seeing Mark at the level of fitness he was at prior to his injury, and his recent results show he is absolutely in the form of his life.

"As for Sebastian, he is undoubtedly a star in the making. He shows remarkable maturity, given his lack of experience.

"He is a prodigious talent who will continue to get better. The best is yet to come from him.

"So our drivers are both at the top of their game at different stages in their career, and they are pushing one another very hard.

"I think we've the best driver line-up in F1 at the moment, with both being treated with total fairness within the team and supplied with identical equipment."

Despite his team fighting for both titles for the first time in its history, Horner insists the pressure now is no different than at any other time since he has been in charge.

The only difference is everyone is working tooth and nail to keep up the title charge and take the fight to Brawn GP, rather than scrabbling around for mid-table scraps, as has previously been the case.

"You can always do better," insisted Horner.

"Putting aside our performance and two dominant one-two finishes in the last two races, the team's determination to continue to improve and not to take anything for granted is very important.

"There are no obvious weaknesses in our armoury, but as a group we must continue to push ourselves in all areas all the time.

"There are a lot of unsung heroes at the factory, putting in superhuman efforts and hours to get the components on the car."

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