Rival Red Bull teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have been given the nod to race each other full-on for the Formula One title in tomorrow’s season-ending Grand Prix.
Team principal Christian Horner reiterated to reporters at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit on Thursday that there would be no issuing of “team orders” and no attempt to rein in either driver.
“Our priority is to really go for it, as both our drivers have nothing to lose,” Horner said.
Webber is eight points adrift of Ferrari’s championship leader Fernando Alonso while Vettel is another seven behind the Australian. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, the fourth contender, is 24 points off the lead.
Spain’s Alonso need finish only second to win his third title while Webber would be champion if he leads a Red Bull one-two. However should Alonso retire, the two Red Bulls could be locked in a winner-takes-all battle for the title.
“In that situation, they are both racing for a world championship and I don’t think it would make one iota of difference if we told them not to race each other, which we wouldn’t do,” Horner said.
“They would both be competing for the world championship,” he said. “Obviously they know that to finish first, they need to finish. They can’t not finish. Fernando has scored more points than them going into the race, but ultimately they would race each other.”
If Vettel wins, he would be the youngest ever champion at 23 years old.
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