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Horner admits to lack of trust between drivers

Christian Horner: "There has been a breakdown of trust ever since Istanbul; it's something that we've had to manage since 2010" © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Christian Horner
• |
• Sebastian Vettel
• |
• Mark Webber

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Christian Horner admits there is a lack of trust between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber which Red Bull has to manage.

Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and overtake Webber to take victory in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix has led to criticism of Vettel and left a question mark over Webber's future. Horner, however, defended Vettel by saying Webber would have done the same but admits it's the latest showing of a lack of trust between the two drivers.

"They're both competitive guys, they both race each other hard," Horner told Sky Sports. "There has been a breakdown of trust ever since Istanbul; it's something that we've had to manage since 2010 but the most important thing is that they do have a respect for each other when they race each other on track.

"What happened on Sunday was unfortunate but let's not pretend it hasn't happened the other way round or in other teams ... if Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton had been in that position, they'd have done the same. If Mark Webber had been in that position we've seen him do the same. So let's not kid ourselves that this is something that is unique to Sebastian, this is something that is in any competitive driver's DNA."

Asked if he was confident Webber would remain with the team for the rest of the season, Horner replied: "Absolutely.

"Mark knows there was no conspiracy within the team at the weekend; we gave him the priority. Our intention was to shut the race down, to minimise the risk - particularly with the tyre deg that we'd seen - to see out that race, and it was the intent of the team that Mark would win that race."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.