MOTORSPORT: Webber's not sorry at all

Well, on our reading of Webber's statement midweek, it's no apology -- and there's no need for him to apologise.

It could be said that Webber was "clearing the air", but you won't find the words sorry or apology in the statement. Our reading of it is that Webber has been pressured by the team to say something more after all the controversy of Vettel being given the sole remaining new nose cone for qualifying and the perception that the young German is the team's favoured son.

Webber has had a bit more to say, but he's been careful to effectively say very little -- and concede nothing. Indeed, he stopped at saying that "things get said in the heat of the moment which, with hindsight goggles on, probably shouldn't have been said".

Rather than apologise and kow-tow, Webber has stood up for himself throughout this episode and made it clear that he won't cop being treated as its second-class driver. And good on him for doing just that. If Vettel ends up winning the world championship this year he ought to have to earn it.

Webber is in the prime of his life, and career. This is his best -- and perhaps only -- shot at becoming world champion -- and how unbelievable it is that he's in this position after all the disappointments of those early years. He's entitled to demand the absolute best support from the team around him -- and that's what he's doing.

At least he's got a guarantee now from Red Bull Racing that, as he's leading Vettel in the championship again (although still trailing McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button), he'll get any preferential treatment in terms of equipment at the next GP -- at Germany's Hockenheim on July 23-25.

And that is to be the rule within the team for the rest of the season -- that the driver higher in the championship gets priority.

The only sign of anything resembling an apology within that Red Bull Racing camp that we've noticed this week was team principal Christian Horner admitting that he should have properly explained to Webber at the time why Vettel was getting that nose.

Horner has claimed that it was: "purely a technical decision, which I discussed with (team technical director) Adrian Newey".

"There has never been any pressure from Red Bull to favour one driver over the other... I didn't have a conversation with Helmut [Marko, motorsport adviser to Red Bull energy drink tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz -- both Austrians] or anyone from Red Bull regarding the decision to give Sebastian the wing," Horner said.

However, Horner conceded that he could have handled the matter better for it not to have become the storm it did.

"My one regret is that I didn't have time to discuss the issue with Mark personally prior to qualifying, as I'm sure that would have given him a more balanced understanding."

He too has said that the mistake was in the team not having made clear earlier that any preferential treatment would be based on which driver was higher in the championship. He also appears to respect Webber's guts in standing up for himself and lamented again -- as we reported here some time back -- how he allowed himself to buckle to McLaren's favouritism of his teammate Mika Hakkinen, including in the 1998 Australian GP in Melbourne.

Coulthard wrote in a column in The Telegraph newspaper in London: "I have a huge amount of respect for Mark, and he had his own reasons for saying what he did... He clearly felt aggrieved that the team gave Sebastian Vettel his wing prior to qualifying, and he saw an opportunity to turn the situation in his favour by making his feelings plain to the media. That is his prerogative.

"In many respects, that bloody-minded attitude is what I wish I had shown on the two occasions during my career, at Jerez in 1997 and Melbourne a year later, when I was asked to make way for my McLaren teammate, Mika Hakkinen. I will never know whether my compliance cost me the chance of a championship.

"That is not to say, though, that I agree with Mark. As Christian Horner explained, his team were in an invidious position. With just one new front wing and two hungry drivers, he applied a logic he felt would give Red Bull the best chance of winning the championship. That is his prerogative.

"The mistake Red Bull made, and which Christian has admitted, was that they did not go into the weekend with that system already in place and publicly known; that way they would not have left themselves open to accusations of partisanship.

"This is the paradox of Formula One. The driver-team relationship is one of the most complex in sport; a multi-million pound marriage with the divorce papers signed on the same day as the wedding. The relationship will end; that much is certain. It is just a question of time. During that time, both sides will try to extract the most they can from the partnership.

"Red Bull would doubtless prefer it if Mark aired his grievances in private. Mark, who suspects Red Bull's Austrian owners would prefer Vettel to win the championship, clearly feels he can gain more leverage by going public and trying to shame the team whenever he feels hard done by.

"It is a risky strategy. If it goes wrong, the relationship with the team could sour irreparably. If it comes off, he could consolidate his position, attract public sympathy and be remembered as a steely champion who battled against the odds to win his title."

The 21-year-old Ricciardo, from Perth, the reigning British Formula Three Champion and running second in this year's World Series by Renault for 3.5-litre open-wheelers, is already the reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and its smaller sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso -- the former Minardi.

Toro Rosso has just announced it is retaining Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi and Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari for next year. There had been speculation of Buemi moving to Renault to partner Polish star Robert Kubica.

Webber and Vettel are already contracted with RBR for next year.
F1 testing opportunities for Ricciardo are now strictly limited by the cost containment measures on teams, so Red Bull may choose to keep him in the World Series by Renault again next year to give him plenty of racing.

Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will abandon his comeback with Mercedes at the end of this year, even though he is contracted for another two years.

Schumacher's greatest supporter, Bernie Ecclestone, added his voice to that of triple world champion and former team owner Sir Jackie Stewart in expecting Schumacher to end what has been a massively underwhelming return.

These types of races remind us of the roots of the Bathurst 1000, although Eastern Creek is not a circuit comparable with Mt Panorama -- even if it is much handier to Australia's biggest population centre.

The championship will include five competitions -- classic handicap, classic outright, early modern, modern and showroom cars.

"We have already received 220 entries for Targa High Country, which is getting towards the entry numbers for Targa Tasmania," said series organiser, Octagon's Mark Perry.

Record numbers are expected for next year's Targa Tasmania as it will be its 20th anniversary and that event will carry double points in the ATC.

Perry said that "maintains Targa's status as Australia's premier tarmac event".

Denmeade said he was told by the Pikes Peak organisers that he was almost certainly the first Aussie to notch a class win there.

The second oldest US motor sports event after the Indianapolis 500, Pikes Peak is run over a breathtaking, snaky course of almost 20km, ending high up in the Colorado mountains. This year was the last on a mix of asphalt and dirt.

"The top course will be sealed before next year's climb, meaning a 90 per cent tarmac surface," Denmeade said.

"For our name to be in the record book with a new qualifying record, even for a short 12 months until paving is complete is a huge thrill."

Unlike some competitors, Denmeade elected to use a co-driver -- his regular rally partner, and girlfriend, Catherine Hammond, to call pace notes on the climb.

The next four rounds -- starting this weekend in Toronto, Canada -- are on road courses, which will suit the Toowoomba ace. However, the final four races will be on oval tracks, with which Power is still getting to grips.

On the four oval courses so far this season his best finish has been fifth -- at Iowa. He was eighth in the Indianpolis 500, 12th in Kansas and 14th in Texas.

Driving for Team Penske, Power has had three wins in the nine rounds so far and has 327 championship points -- 32 more than Dario Franchitti and 40 up on Scott Dixon, that pair both representing Chip Ganassi's team.

Power's Aussie teammate Ryan Briscoe is fourth on 280 points and Penske's third driver, Brazilian Helio Castroneves, next on 273.

It will be known as the IndyCar Safety Cell, comprising only the tub, undercarriage and rolling chassis. Other manufacturers -- including road car and aerospace companies -- will be welcome to provide the "bodywork" -- front and rear wings, engine cover and sidepods.

There is said to be interest already from three of the four design companies that missed on the chassis contract -- Lola, Swift, BAT and DeltaWing. Claiming that they will cut the cost of cars by 45 per cent, the organisers said the safety cell would sell for US$349,000 and the aero kits for US$70,000.

They also are hoping to entice engine suppliers other than Honda from 2012, when turbocharged 2.4-litre motors of either V6 or in-line four configurations will be allowed.

It is claimed the new, lighter cars will be more agile, better handling on road courses and capable of running faster on ovals.

"I don't think you could ask for anything better," Will Power said.

"It entices other manufacturers to come in. I think this is the best direction they could have gone."

Tony Purnell, who was one of the chiefs of Jaguar's F1 team before it transformed into Red Bull Racing, is now a professor at Britain's Cambridge University and was on the committee that chose the new chassis.

"We're hoping lots of technology concerns stamp their names in the Indy 500 history book by dressing this chassis in different and sexy ways. So come on, Ford; come on, Lotus; come on, Lockheed; come on, Boeing; come on, you engineers working in small technology businesses. We want you to rise to the challenge," Purnell said.

The bigger challenge is wooing back the 15-20 million fans new IndyCar chief executive Randy Bernard estimates were lost during American open-wheeler racing's "civil war" between 1996 and 2008.

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