Red Bull free to race 'most of the time'

Red Bull team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are allowed to race.

That's according to Australian Mark Webber who wasn't allowed to race Vettel in the closing laps of the British Grand Prix earlier this month.

At the British Grand Prix Webber clearly had the faster car heading into the final few laps and was all over the back of team-mate and championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

With the two drivers one-two in the drivers championship and Vettel 80-points clear, many thought the call from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to 'maintain the gap' was pretty petty.

But the team have different priorities and while we want action on the track, that call realistically clinched the 2011 F1 Constructors World championship by protecting the points leaving McLaren 110-points behind.

One question that was asked 12 months after Webber ironically called himself the 'number 2 driver' after winning the 2010 British Grand Prix was whether the call showed favouritism to the current F1 Champ.

Webber has been assured it wasn't and if the tables were reversed the same call would have been made to protect the lead car.

'[Horner has] guaranteed me if it was the other way round, if Seb was closing on me, he would have shut the race down'. Webber told the BBC.

'It's not often that you are closing on the last few laps. We are still free to race most of the time.' he added.

Strangely while many thought the events at Silverstone would probably be the beginning of the end for Webber at Red Bull, it seems to have strengthened his position within the team.

But obviously only time will tell.