Many an eyebrow was raised last week when Red Bull team chief Christian Horner declared that he was not yet ready to issue any team orders in the scrap for the Formula One drivers’ championship.

It had been widely expected that Horner, with the support of the team owners, would ask young German Sebastian Vettel to sacrifice his personal ambitions in support of Australian Mark Webber.

With two races remaining – in Brazil next weekend and then in Abu Dhabi a week later – Webber is 11 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, with Vettel a further 14 points adrift.

In many teams, this would automatically lead to 23-year-old Vettel being told to drive for Webber, 34, but not Red Bull, who saw both drivers forced to retire for contrasting reasons from last Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix.

“We thought about it,” admitted Horner.

“But in the end we have two fantastic drivers and we will continue to support both equally, in line with Red Bull’s credible sporting ethos.

“We saw in Korea that it is impossible to predict what will happen with five drivers being so closely in contention.

“For example, with 10 laps to go, Sebastian had moved into the lead of the championship, but then Alonso moved into the lead following our bad luck.

“It just goes to show that situations can change very quickly. Ultimately as we now approach the end of the championship, the mathematics will speak for itself. And I’m certain that both drivers will do everything possible to achieve the best result for the team.”

Horner also went out of his way to dismiss speculation that Webber may have deliberately attempted to take another driver with him when he crashed out of last Sunday’s race.

“Just to be absolutely clear – Mark’s intention was not to take out another driver after his crash in the Korean Grand Prix and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise,” said Horner.

“After Mark’s impact with the wall, it was clear on the TV and from the data that his car was badly damaged. However, the natural and immediate instinct of any competitive driver is not to give up and to keep going.

“In the atrocious conditions, Mark made the snap decision to continue as every driver would in that situation – it’s absurd to suggest that Mark would ever deliberately take out another driver.”

The enforced retirement of the luckless Australian, coupled with Alonso’s victory for Ferrari, meant that he saw a 14-point lead in the title race turned into an 11-point deficit with two races remaining.

Little wonder Webber’s jaw was clenched and his chin jutting out as he handled his interviews after the race before heading to the airport.

After leading the pack, he now has to fight back again – and without the help of his team-mate.

The contenders

1. Alonso - 231 points
2. Webber - 220
3. Hamilton - 210
4. Vettel - 206
5. Button - 189

Remaining GPs
Brazil – November 7
Abu Dhabi – November 14

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