Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey says Sebastian Vettel should do
all he can to help Mark Webber become world Formula One champion on
Sunday if the German finds himself out of contention.
Newey says
that having won the constructors’ title, Red Bull needs to try to add
the drivers’ championship at Yas Marina in the final round.
Webber
is eight points behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the standings, with
Vettel 15 points back while McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has a slight
chance of winning the crown.
“We’ve always said we would leave the drivers to it. It’s a drivers’ championship, and that’s how it should be,” Newey said.
“We
would honestly like to win both (titles) if we possibly could, and if
we’re in a position where we can win the drivers’, that is what we must
do now.
“Ultimately, if one of the drivers is out of it, then I hope he would be magnanimous enough to help the other.”
Despite
the tension between Webber and Vettel this season and accusations Red
Bull has favoured Vettel, Newey feels the team has been even-handed with
both drivers.
“They have pushed each other hard, which is good, a little bit too hard once or twice, but overall we’re very happy,” he said.
Webber
put a severe dent in his chances when he crashed out of the Korean
Grand Prix and lost his points lead, but rebounded with a second place
in Brazil.
However he now must win the race in Abu Dhabi and hope
Alonso finishes worse than second to become the first Australian since
Alan Jones in 1980 to win a world title.
