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Korea's straights will be 'tough' for Red Bull - Horner

Red Bull boss Christian Horner sees Korea's long straights as a potential weakness for his team at the country's inaugural grand prix next weekend.

Red Bull has come under pressure at high-speed circuits such as Spa Francorchamps and Monza this year, where straight-line speed is a key factor for a quick lap. The new Korean circuit features three straights in the first sector, the second of which is the longest in F1, and Horner has already pinpointed that as a weakness. However, sectors two and three are made up of fast, technical corners that he is hoping will boost his team's competitiveness.

"Korea is new for everybody, but looking at the track layout - with the longest straight on the calendar - you'd have to say that's going to be tough for us because of the package we have," he said. "But sectors two and three have quite a lot of fast, flowing corners so hopefully they should suit our chassis strengths more. I guess with the strengths and weaknesses that we have we should be competitive, but we're taking nothing for granted and we will have to do our homework, keep working hard and obviously we're very focused on that race."

Red Bull's Mark Webber leads the championship ahead of the Korean Grand Prix, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso 14 points behind. Horner reckons the title is still wide open and once again dismissed suggestions the team would favour one driver over the other.

"It's impossible to have a crystal ball," he added. "The drivers are split by 14 points, which is less than a third place finish, so under last year's point system that is less than six points. It's impossible to predict how the next three races are going to go so it's not correct, as we've always said, for us to favour one driver over the other. The team will support both drivers as equally as we can and give both drivers as good a chance as we can to win this championship. It's fantastic that we've got two drivers still competing in the drivers' championship."

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