Red Bull Official Hints at No 2 Role for Mark Webber

Mark Webber may be dreaming of his first and only world title in Formula 1 this season, but as far as Helmut Marko goes (the Austrian marque's motorsport consultant) his main task this year may be to simply take points off the title rivals of teammate Sebastian Vettel.

The Austrian official made it very clear however that there is no such thing as a “No 1” or “No 2” driver within the Milton Keynes based team.

“We do not have any team orders,” said Marko in a recent interview with Germany's Sport Bild newspaper. “But it's a fact that, generally since Silverstone 2010, Mark has been three tenths of a second slower than Sebastian.”

“That's too slow to be able to win with his own steam. But if as in Turkey he races at a high level, he can take important points away from the others,” he added, hinting that not many people at Milton Keynes believe Webber could be a title contender this season.

Webber's respond (if any) is yet to be issued publicly, although it's likely that the Australian driver will not make any waves in the media. After all, the 34-year old is the only member of the Austrian organization whose contract expires at the end of this season, and a potential extension is pending on his results/relationship with the team this year.

In the 4 races in the 2011 F1 season so far, Vettel scored 3 wins and a 2nd place, as he leads the championship by 34 points from next contender Lewis Hamilton. After a shady start in Australia, Webber managed consecutive podiums in China and Turkey to sit 3rd overall, 39 points behind his teammate.