The Formula One title battle will rage until the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull contender Mark Webber predicted yesterday.
Championship leader Jenson Button of Brawn GP saw his lead over Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello cut to 16 points at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after the Briton failed to score for the first time this season.
Red Bull’s Webber also drew a blank at Spa at the weekend, dropping to fourth overall and 20.5 points behind Button after a drive-through penalty. Teammate Sebastien Vettel is third, 1.5 ahead of Webber, with five races remaining.
PHOTO: EPA
“I really believe the championship race will go down to the wire,” Australian Webber said in a column for the BBC.
“Jenson needs to have an 11-point lead at Brazil for that not to happen. And that doesn’t look likely at the moment,” he said.
Webber said all of the contenders had missed opportunities to forge a decisive advantage but insisted Red Bull had not missed their chance.
“There’s still a huge amount of points to go and we’ve seen how wacky and crazy things can be of late,” he added.
“One weekend it’s Rubens, then mine, then Seb. We’re all over the place. But the guy who’s treading water a little of late is Jenson,” he said.
Webber won in Germany in July and had racked up four consecutive podium finishes before retiring in Valencia and Belgium.
The Australian said the next two races, in Italy and Singapore, could play a big part in deciding the outcome but he said he did not feel under pressure.
He doubted Button, winner of six of the first seven races, was feeling too much strain either.
“Brawn as a team have had a little bit of a wobble in the last four races, with the exception of Rubens winning in Valencia. So I don’t think its all down to Jenson tightening up,” he said.
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