So the BBC and Autosport are making a mountain out of a few comments by Mark Webber today.
Here’s how the BBC is playing it. Your thoughts will be welcomed:
Mark Webber has re-opened the controversy about favouritism at Red Bull by saying the team support Sebastian Vettel more than him.
Webber has been Red Bull’s leading contender in the championship since May but the team are refusing to ask Vettel to back the Australian’s title bid.
It was suggested to Webber in a news conference that he did not feel the team were emotionally behind him.
Webber said: “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” But added it was “absolutely fine.”
[snip]
Webber’s remarks came in a news conference in which he was quizzed on the team’s unwillingness to put their weight behind him as their best way of beating Alonso.
After a number of responses in which he was clearly searching for the right way to respond to the line of questioning, it was suggested to him that he still seemed to think the team were not fully behind him.
He replied: “Technically everything’s been very, very good.”
But when it was then suggested that he did not feel the team were emotionally behind him, he replied: “It’s obvious, isn’t it?
“When young new chargers come on to the block, that’s the way it is, which is absolutely fine because I’ve had a great opportunity with a great car to go and do some great things this year and I have done that. I’ve got favourites in life. That’s how it is. It’s human nature.”
He added: “I think I wasn’t supposed to be in the hunt. At all. So it’s been maybe quite inconvenient, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”
And now, Autosport:
Mark Webber has suggested that Red Bull Racing is ’emotionally behind’ his team-mate Sebastian Vettel going into the final two races of the world championship battle.
[snip]
When asked if he felt he was getting equal support, Webber replied: “technically everything’s been very, very good” but when pressed on whether he felt he had the same level of emotional backing as Vettel, he said: “It’s obvious isn’t it?”
Webber added: “Of course when young, new chargers come onto the block, that’s where the emotion is. That’s the way it is.
“Which is absolutely fine, because I’ve had a great opportunity and a great car to go and do some great things this year, and I have done that.
“I’ve got favourites in life. I’ve got people I like to be with. That’s how it is. It’s human nature.”
While the team has remained adamant that it will not impose any form of team orders, Webber said there was the potential to let both championships slip away if Red Bull did not handle the final races correctly.
“I’m a driver, and I think that of course you increase your risk of that happening if you race each other and potentially take each other out, or race as hard as you want all the way to the end then you might not get certain championships,” he said.
“But it’s certainly not my decision and what I think is really all that important to how we will probably go about it. You’d need to ask the people who run the team.”
So, there’s two takes on Webber’s comments. My questions for you are:
- Do you agree with what Mark says? (That should be easy.)
- Was Webber wrong to not avoid the questions?
- Do you think they will adversely affect Red Bull this weekend (and maybe at the last race)?
- How would you react if you were Chrisitan Horner? Sebastian Vettel?
- Will Mark’s car go kablamo this weekend?
