Red Bull insists: No driver will be favored!

Christian Horner wanted to clarify his team, Red Bull Racing’s strategy regarding the World Drivers’ Championship. For now, no team orders are being or will be given. Each driver will have the same chances of winning a Grand Prix as his teammate… at least as long as the team isn’t fighting for the title.

The team has had a strict equality policy until now, but Horner believes that both his drivers will be ready to act as number two when the time comes. Specifically, as soon as one of the drivers no longer has a mathematical chance of winning the title, he will have to support his teammate.

« It is quite early currently to talk like that », said Horner, invited by the English newspaper Autosport. « We will support both our drivers in the same way, but if there comes a time when one of them can no longer win the title, they will have to fight for the team and therefore for their teammate. »

For now, the two drivers often battle on the track without causing any accidents during the race. This rivalry between Vettel and Webber does not scare Horner. The director of the Austrian team sees no negative side, neither now nor later.

“It’s excellent,” he said, referring to their working relationship. “They are both professional drivers, but above all, they complement each other because they are at different stages of their careers. So they both work for the same team, and once on the track, they are real competitors. Therefore, there is no number one.”

« There are updates for each race, the development of the car demands it, but both drivers always have the same parts at their disposal. » he comments. The strategy is therefore entirely different from some teams. For example, Alonso receives the new parts well before Piquet at Renault. The Spaniard tests and validates them. Piquet then has access to them.

« We have a very strong lineup of drivers. Our two drivers are complementary, and one is the motivating factor for the other. When we see their times at Silverstone, it clearly shows that they are at the top of their game. »

And even if the RBR team is more than 30 points behind Brawn GP in the constructors’ championship, Horner is confident for the rest of the season and can make a comeback thanks to an optimized line-up: « We are at Sebastian [Vettel]’s home in Germany and we will do everything we can for him and of course for Webber. »

« We were very strong at Silverstone, especially in sector three, where usually it would have been Brawn GP that was better. I think we have very good drivers and therefore very high hopes. »