Team players: Webber (left) and Horner
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has assured Mark Webber he is free to race for victories and that team orders no longer apply.
Webber found himself on the receiving end in the British Grand Prix in July as Red Bull went back on their word they would never employ such tactics.
The Australian cut a frustrated figure following that race after being told by Horner to maintain the gap to Sebastian Vettel as the duo scrapped for second place over the final laps.
Horner was forced to jump onto the team radio as Webber had ignored his own race engineer on at least four occasions.
With Vettel closing in on back-to-back championships, with Webber his nearest challenger at 92 points adrift, Horner's words are perhaps unsurprising.
Circumstances
"If Mark had been leading any of the races so far he would have been allowed to win. Of course, it depends what the circumstances are. Under normal circumstances, absolutely, yes, he is free to race."
Christian Horner Quotes of the week
However, Horner said: "If Mark had been leading any of the races so far he would have been allowed to win.
"Of course, it depends what the circumstances are. Under normal circumstances, absolutely, yes, he is free to race.
"But if they're going into the last couple of laps and they're on slicks on a wet track then you are going to ask them to be more prudent.
"The drivers know that, irrelevant of which way round it is.
"Obviously we expect the drivers to work with each other and co-operate with each other, as they demonstrated two weeks ago in Spa where they were on different strategies.
"From a team point of view we want to make sure both our guys are right up there."
Although second in the drivers' standings, Webber has remarkably yet to win a grand prix this year in comparison to Vettel's seven victories.
Even the trio directly behind the 35-year-old in Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have won at least once.
So nothing would give Horner greater pleasure than to see Webber take the chequered flag at some stage this season, even tomorrow with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Consistent
"Mark is a world-class driver, and I'm hoping he is going to break his duck in the not too distant future," added Horner.
"He has actually scored more points than he had at this stage last year, even though he had won three races by this time.
"He is very keen to get that first victory this year, and as a team we'd love to see him achieve that.
"There's nothing pre-written he can't. It's down to him and it all coming right on the day."
Source: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12040_7166781,00.html
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