Webber To Stay At Red Bull For 2011

F1 points leader continues with Red Bull, despite Turkish GP controversy

By Riggers / Tuesday, 8 June 2010 / Loading comments

The Red Bull F1 team has officially re-signed Mark Webber for next season. Since Sebastian Vettel is already under contract with Red Bull for next year, the move shores up Red Bulls line-up for 2011.

Ordinarily, signing up a driver who has got you four poles and two wins out of seven races - and leads the drivers' points table - would be a no-brainer. But the crash at the Turkish Grand Prix between the two Red Bull cars, which put Vettel out of the race and pushed Webber down to third, must have made for a tense and murky atmosphere at Red Bull.

Until last Thursday, when the team met for a 'clear the air' meeting to draw a line under the incident, blame for the crash had been laid at Webber's door. That meeting absolved Webber, but Vettel is refusing to accept blame - though many observers think it was at least partly his fault.

"You do at the time what you think is right, and in that case you would do it again because you thought it was right," he told the BBC. "I had already passed Mark and then tried to come slowly back to the right. At that time I was the leading car and then usually the leader dictates where to go. We made contact and that was the end of the race for me."

But despite obvious intra-team tensions, Webber is clrearly chuffed to be staying at Red Bull: "The decision to extend for a further year was a mutual one; it's widely known that I'm not interested in hanging around in Formula One just for the sake of it and at this stage of my career, I'm happy to take one year at a time.

"I continue to feel very comfortable here - I have a fantastic relationship with the whole team and the factory at Milton Keynes feels like home. It's been incredible to be part of the team as it's moved forward from a mid-field competitor to one that is challenging for the Championship."

"The decision to retain Mark was very straightforward. He is an important member of our team and is currently in the best form of his career, as the current leader of the Drivers' Championship," said team principal Christian Horner. "The team is extremely happy that the driver pairing of Mark and Sebastian will remain unchanged for a third season in 2011."