Dietrich Mateschitz has left open the door to Mark Webber receiving a new contract to keep racing with Red Bull beyond 2012.
The Australian is the only significant member of the championship-winning team who is not yet already signed up for the 2013 season.

But billionaire team owner Mateschitz this week backed Webber, 35, to return to Sebastian Vettel’s pace this year, insisting the pair will receive no more or less than equality in 2012.

At the same time, however, Webber was utterly dominated by Vettel last season, causing some experts to predict that Red Bull will replace him for 2013.

Indeed, Mateschitz said at the Jerez test last week that “Our primary goal is to put one of our juniors in the car”.

He told the German-language Speed Week magazine: “That’s one reason why we changed the drivers at Toro Rosso.

“Both (Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne) are highly talented and have great potential, but the question will only arise if, for example, Webber stops at the end of 2012.”

Jean-Eric Vergne has revealed he will try to keep the “tension” down to a minimum inside the Toro Rosso garage in 2012.
Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz this week has admitted that, beyond Mark Webber’s 2012 contract, “Our primary goal is to put one of our juniors” alongside Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

With Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari ousted by the energy drink’s Faenza based secondary team after 2011, those most eligible juniors are now French rookie Vergne and his new Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

At Jerez last week in the new STR7 car, their rivalry got off to a fascinating start.

By the end of the four days of running, their fastest laps were separated by no more than one hundredth of a second — with Ricciardo enjoying the miniscule edge for the moment.

With a Red Bull seat up for grabs, 21-year-old Vergne admitted to RMC radio that the stakes are high.

But “There was not too much tension,” he insists. “You have to forget about all those different aspects when you think about the work you need to do.

“We had four good days of testing. The engineers are working now for the next test in Barcelona at the end of the month.

“There is a competition with my teammate but at the same time we can’t (let it) go in the wrong direction.

“You always want to beat everybody but my teammate is also the only other person who is working on the very same car as me,” added Vergne.

 Dietrich Mateschitz is giving Mark Webber at least an equal chance to get back on terms with his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in 2012.
After his 2010 title challenge, Webber was utterly dominated by back to back world champion Vettel last year.

But team owner Mateschitz told Kleine Zeitung newspaper that the pair will continue to have equal status this season.

“Our attitude has not changed — there are no team orders,” the Austrian billionaire said. “It starts at zero again, for both of them.”

As for which Red Bull driver will get the upper hand in 2012, Mateschitz is open minded.

“From today’s point of view it is difficult to say. But why not (Webber)? I’m curious to know how hard or difficult or impossible it will be for Vettel to defend his dominance,” he added.

Beyond 2012, however, Webber has no contract, and Mateschitz confessed that “our primary goal is to put one of our juniors in the car”.

He also admitted that rule changes could play against Red Bull for 2012, but still expects Adrian Newey’s car to be on the pace.

“The competition copied from us so much last year that at the end our advantages were no longer the same. But at the last race we still had quite a bit of an edge.

“Of course you take that into the new year.”

Based on the initial Jerez test, however, he said it is too early to say the RB8 is the best car.

“These tests are not to scale,” said Mateschitz. “Everyone drives with their own goals and plans or to meet certain criteria.

“But I do think the balance of power has stayed about the same.”

It is Red Bull’s “intention” to promote Daniel Ricciardo through the energy drink company’s F1 ranks.

That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, the outfit’s driver manager who in Hungary revealed that Mark Webber will “probably” retire and be replaced by “one of our juniors” beyond 2012.

The other candidates are Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari, amid reports Ricciardo travelled recently to Faenza for a seat fitting.

Asked by Australian broadcaster One if HRT newcomer Ricciardo is a candidate for one of the seats next year, Marko admitted: “If he is doing well, the intention is there, yes.”

Budapest was 22-year-old Ricciardo’s third grand prix, and he was closer to the pace of his teammate, the formerly Red Bull-backed Vitantonio Liuzzi.

“I hope there is a bit more to come because I’m close to Tonio on raw pace in qualifying but still not close enough, and definitely not a bit ahead, which of course is where I’d like to be,” he said.

Team boss Christian Horner has played down reports Red Bull’s Mark Webber could be set to retire next year.
Team consultant Helmut Marko in Hungary told the Australian broadcaster One that 2012 will “probably” be 35-year-old Webber’s last in formula one.

He said Red Bull is therefore looking at “one of our juniors” to replace the Australian for 2013.

Horner however insists Austrian Marko was quoted out of context as he was being interviewed about Webber’s countryman, the Red Bull junior and HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo.

“I think Helmut was probably focusing more on Ricciardo, and these things can obviously get lost in translation,” he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“Mark could have another two, three or four years in F1. That’s down to him because he is still very competitive, very hungry.”

Reports prior to Hungary had indicated that a new contract for Webber in 2012 was now a mere formality.

“We’re talking about Mark for next year, and I’m expecting him to be here,” confirmed Horner.

“Both sides are keen to continue, so during the next few weeks we will take the opportunity to sit down, and with this break in the championship look at next year.”

A 2012 F1 contract will “probably” be Mark Webber’s last.
That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s driver manager and consultant to team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

The Austrian is known to be closer to fellow German-speaker Sebastian Vettel’s side of the garage, and he stunned F1′s Australian contingent on Sunday by effectively announcing 34-year-old Webber’s impending retirement.

Marko told broadcaster One’s coverage of the Hungarian grand prix that Webber is “probably going to retire” next year.

He said Red Bull therefore “would need to find one of our juniors who can replace Mark Webber”.

Ironically, a leading candidate is Webber’s countryman Daniel Ricciardo, who has been slotted in at HRT alongside Italian veteran Vitantonio Liuzzi.

“First of all, he has to beat his teammate, and he has to progress,” said Marko.

“He (Ricciardo) is losing too much in the pitstops, and losing too much when he is being lapped so he must get the feeling. And we want him to fight with the people who are around him.”

Toro Rosso’s current drivers cannot relax even if they have been confirmed for the 2011 season.

That is the warning of Dr Helmut Marko, motor racing consultant at Red Bull, the Faenza based team’s owner.

There have been mixed messages from Toro Rosso recently: boss Franz Tost insisting that the drivers are staying put, but Red Bull-contracted pair Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi sounding less bullish about their future.

“The drivers must confirm themselves and develop,” Marko said in an interview with Austria’s laola1.at.

“Of course, moves like when Alguersuari crashed into the back of Buemi should not happen.

“At the moment it is looking good (for them), but with Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, we have two very fast juniors,” added Marko.

He indicated that Ricciardo and Vergne can expect to get some F1 laps under their belts at the post Abu-Dhabi young driver test.

“November is still quite a long way away, but it would be a logical consequence of our junior programme,” said Marko.

“To what extent and for which team (they will test) has not been decided yet,” he added.