“He (Webber) is big enough to know there was no malice or intent from the
team to create any situation like that.
“He is in a car capable of winning grands prix, and hopefully going for a
championship, so I’ve no doubt Mark will see out the season with us.”
Horner has confirmed Vettel visited the factory in Milton Keynes this week to
offer a fulsome apology for his selfish behaviour.
“He’s accepted what he did was wrong, but that he can’t turn back the
clock,” added Horner.
“He has apologised to the team, apologised to every single member of
staff for his actions because he recognises the team is vitally important,
and being part of a team is a crucial aspect of being able to challenge for
those championships.”
Red
Bull advisor Helmut Marko, meanwhile, claims the issue between
Vettel and Webber has been “settled”‘
Marko, right-hand man to team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, said: “They
don’t have to be completely on the same page, but it must be a solid working
partnership.
“Sebastian apologised in the press conference and I think that was the
first correct step to make.
“There was a debrief afterwards with the relevant discussions about the
race and then there was a handshake between the two drivers. For us now the
issue is settled.”
Marko has revealed, however, the situation became out of control when Vettel
ignored the call to hold station behind Webber after the final round of pit
stops.
“We told Sebastian to hold his position because we didn’t know what the
tyre situation was and both drivers needed to bring home a good finish for
the team,” added Marko.
“But then came the attack against that strategy and it got out of
control.
“You couldn’t control it over radio or anything like that. Sebastian the
racer came out and took the lead.”