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McLaren 'love-in' cannot last, claims Webber
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2010, Friday
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LEWIS Hamilton and Jenson Button's "smoke and mirrors" act at McLaren will flare up sooner or later, according to Red Bull title rival Mark Webber.
The Australian said the public unity of the two world champions, first and second in the standings ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix, was bound to end in tears.
"If Seb's drowning in the ocean I'd go in and help him out," Webber said of his German teammate Sebastian Vettel, the driver he collided with in Turkey while they were running first and second.
"We don't hate each other's guts ... but it (the rivalry) is totally natural. You look at say (Lotus drivers) Jarno (Trulli) and Heikki (Kovalainen), there's not much at stake so they are going to get on better," he added.
"If you look at (Brazilian Nelson) Piquet and (Briton Nigel) Mansell (at Williams in 1986/87), when you are at the front and both trying to win there is going to be a healthy competitive rivalry there.
"It's not easy to have a beautiful, fuzzy, warm relationship when he (a teammate) is clearly a competitor," added Webber. "That is absolutely the case at McLaren too, I believe it," said the 33-year-old.
"They are working hard to put a bit of smoke and mirrors up but those two are racing hard. If you are always racing at the front, inevitably it's going to come. What I'm saying is that it's inevitable given what's at stake, they are both hungry, both driven. If I don't care, if I'd got no competition about me, no fire and desire about me, I'd get on with Seb like a house on fire."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed with Webber that the situation with the McLaren drivers was potentially explosive.
"It will only take one small incident for things to flare up between the McLaren drivers, I'm sure," said Horner.
Meanwhile, Webber has no qualms about being handed Vettel's cast-off car to race at Silverstone. The Aussie wrecked his previous car in a spectacular crash in Spain on June 27 when it rammed the rear of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus before flying high into the air and crashing to the ground upside down.
The replacement is a chassis, dubbed 'Luscious Liz', that was rejected by Vettel after the German complained about its handling and swapped it for 'Randy Mandy'.
"There was nothing wrong with it. It's fine. It's all we've got anyway," said Webber, who emerged unscathed from the crash.
The Australian said the public unity of the two world champions, first and second in the standings ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix, was bound to end in tears.
"If Seb's drowning in the ocean I'd go in and help him out," Webber said of his German teammate Sebastian Vettel, the driver he collided with in Turkey while they were running first and second.
"We don't hate each other's guts ... but it (the rivalry) is totally natural. You look at say (Lotus drivers) Jarno (Trulli) and Heikki (Kovalainen), there's not much at stake so they are going to get on better," he added.
"If you look at (Brazilian Nelson) Piquet and (Briton Nigel) Mansell (at Williams in 1986/87), when you are at the front and both trying to win there is going to be a healthy competitive rivalry there.
"It's not easy to have a beautiful, fuzzy, warm relationship when he (a teammate) is clearly a competitor," added Webber. "That is absolutely the case at McLaren too, I believe it," said the 33-year-old.
"They are working hard to put a bit of smoke and mirrors up but those two are racing hard. If you are always racing at the front, inevitably it's going to come. What I'm saying is that it's inevitable given what's at stake, they are both hungry, both driven. If I don't care, if I'd got no competition about me, no fire and desire about me, I'd get on with Seb like a house on fire."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner agreed with Webber that the situation with the McLaren drivers was potentially explosive.
"It will only take one small incident for things to flare up between the McLaren drivers, I'm sure," said Horner.
Meanwhile, Webber has no qualms about being handed Vettel's cast-off car to race at Silverstone. The Aussie wrecked his previous car in a spectacular crash in Spain on June 27 when it rammed the rear of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus before flying high into the air and crashing to the ground upside down.
The replacement is a chassis, dubbed 'Luscious Liz', that was rejected by Vettel after the German complained about its handling and swapped it for 'Randy Mandy'.
"There was nothing wrong with it. It's fine. It's all we've got anyway," said Webber, who emerged unscathed from the crash.
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