Red Bull’s two drivers will take different approaches to the last four races of 2010, team consultant Helmut Marko has revealed.

Mark Webber is 11 points clear at the top of the drivers’ championship, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel – 21 points further adrift – is also still in the running.

“With Sebastian we will take an aggressive strategy, while with Mark we can be safer and let him drive more defensively,” Dr Marko is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild.

German Vettel, 23, confirmed that he is not prepared to write off his chances of beating Webber and his other rivals to the title.

“It will be tight but I’m optimistic,” he told the German language TV Movie.

“There are still four races to go; to throw in the towel now would be stupid,” added Vettel.

He said recently that Suzuka, the scene of next weekend’s race in Japan, was “made for” Adrian Newey’s RB6 car.

“We still have to go there and prove it,” said the 2009 winner and pole sitter.

The Mercedes car is the reason for Michael Schumacher’s performance struggle in 2010.

That is the belief of F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, when assessing the first half of the seven time world champion’s return season to F1 this year.

“He has found a much more difficult situation than he would have counted on,” the 79-year-old said in an interview with Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“It’s not a question of him, but of the car. If Michael was sitting in the Red Bull, he would immediately be as he was before,” added the Briton.

Schumacher’s teammate Nico Rosberg told the German-language TV Movie: “The car is currently not fast enough.

“There are some things in the development that have not quite gone to plan.”