Red Bull has pledged driver equality for the 2010 title fight, whilst openly admitting that Sebastian Vettel is regarded as the man of the future.

“The main thing now is that we become world champions,” said Helmut Marko, who was accused earlier this year of wanting Vettel to beat Australian Webber to the top spot.

But with Webber 14 points clear, and Vettel level-pegging with Ferrari’s chasing Fernando Alonso, the Austrian-owned team must give the 34-year-old an unimpeded run to the chequered flag.

For the future, however, Red Bull’s ambitions are well known.

“I repeat: we are building the team around Sebastian,” team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Auto Bild.

“Sebastian has a long career ahead of him and hopefully he will spend it with us,” said the Briton. “Mark is in the autumn of his career.

“He wants to retire while he’s at the top, not when he’s past his peak like some other drivers,” added Horner.

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, however, thinks Red Bull are making a mistake by giving 23-year-old Vettel so much cover.

“Just look at the differing seasons Mark and Sebastian have had,” the French Canadian is quoted by the Telegraph.

“Vettel has shown he has an impetuous streak but if he makes a mistake and the team don’t tell him it was his fault, he won’t learn.

“It’s Red Bull’s fault for spoiling him,” insisted Villeneuve.

Mark Webber has admitted he might not be “hungry enough” to extend his career beyond 2011.

The Australian has signed on with Red Bull for another season, with some suggesting the short contract extension is a sign of slight tension between him and the Austrian-owned team.

But Webber, 33, insists he only wanted to commit for one more year.

“I am taking each year as it comes now,” he is quoted by Auto Bild Motorsport.

“In two years, perhaps I will not be hungry enough anymore,” said Webber.  “But that doesn’t mean I’ll end my career in 2011.

“If you had asked me in 2005 if I would still be in formula one in 2011, I would have said ‘no way!’

“People think I’m under pressure because I have to fight each year for a contract, but that’s not right.”

Webber admitted a future move from Red Bull to another team is “rather unlikely”.

He also confessed he is not sure why he is so competitive at the wheel of the RB6, having won two races and is still within sight of the championship lead despite his frightening Valencia crash.

“Why?  No idea,” said Webber, when asked about his consistency and speed in 2010.

“One thing; in 2009 I was not a big fan of qualifying with full tanks, while this year I’m back in my element with the light cars in Q3,” added Webber, who on early Friday morning stunned onlookers by completing a F1 pitstop in front of London’s Houses of Parliament.

(GMM)

With their Turkish crash still loud in the news, attention is now turning to the new contracts on the table for Red Bull teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

It is believed the Austrian-owned team is imminently set to extend Australian Webber’s deal for 2011, amid reports Red Bull wants to secure Vettel’s services for a much longer period.

With the young German already under contract to the end of next year, rumours suggest Red Bull also wants to tie him down through 2015.

Team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “Mark is happy with one-year contracts.  At his age he doesn’t want to commit himself for too long.”

The magazine’s latest edition also reveals that Webber recently confided in his former Williams bosses that he was prepared to retire at the end of 2010 if he had not secured a contract extension.

The likely one-year deal ties in with rumours that Red Bull is eyeing a future seat for Sebastien Buemi, the Swiss youngster who currently drives for the junior team Toro Rosso.

(GMM)

Having arrived with a dominant car and leading both world championships, Red Bull has departed Turkey in crisis.

“They step on their tails too often,” said BBC commentator Martin Brundle, after Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel crashed while running one-two at Istanbul Park.

Crash and loss of tempers aside, the team’s management then misled the media about Webber’s fuel-saving engine setting and gave the undoubtable impression that it is the young German Vettel who they want to win the 2010 title.

Compounding the team-induced mess is that the isolated Webber, 33 – who had been in the midst of contract negotiations about 2011 – is now the clear leader of the world championship.

Even Webber’s race engineer Ciaran Pilbeam has been put offside.  When asked why Webber was not told that Vettel was much faster, Marko told Auto Motor und Sport: “We told his engineer but he did not pass on the information.”

Dr Helmut Marko, believed to be leading the German-speaking faction of the Austrian-owned team, denied that Red Bull is poisoned by an internal division.

“That’s not true.  We are handling our team and both drivers in the same way.”

The speed of the crisis is marked out by the memories of just two weeks ago, when Vettel and Webber exaltedly leapt off the motor home into the Monaco harbour.

“I’m sure they are not going to be going out for dinner in the coming days,” Marko said when asked if Sunday had destroyed their relationship.

For many in the paddock, despite their apparent media-savvy humour, Red Bull has never been the friendliest team in the paddock.

“They were always trying to squeeze (tension) between Fernando (Alonso) and Felipe (Massa) and at the moment they are facing this situation on their side,” said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.

Referring to his Maranello employer, Fernando Alonso said: “It shows that there is a united team in the paddock.”

“The important thing is to have respect,” Felipe Massa added.

Team boss Christian Horner insists he will sort out the mess before Canada, after a patch-up job in the Turkey paddock proved impossible because Vettel had stormed out of the circuit.

“One of our drivers has gone,” Marko confirmed when asked by the press late on Sunday.

Red Bull Racing has given the strongest indication yet that it is ready to renew Mark Webber’s contract for 2011.

In the wake of his dominance in Spain and Monaco, chiefs of the Austrian-owned team indicated they are keen to keep the 33-year-old Australian alongside Sebastian Vettel next year.

But Red Bull’s motor sport advisor Dr Helmut Marko signalled recently that joint championship leader Webber’s back-to-back wins could have an effect on the “salary negotiations”.

Ahead of the Turkish grand prix, team principal Christian Horner hinted to Germany’s Bild-Zeitung newspaper that Red Bull is ready to simply extend Webber’s current deal.

“If we sat down together on the subject of a contract extension, it would be a pretty short conversation,” said the Briton.