Mark Webber believes Red Bull will treat him equally alongside new world champion Sebastian Vettel this season.
Towards the end of last year Webber claimed that his team gave more support to Vettel on a personal level, after ongoing animosity between the two drivers. They had a tense relationship throughout the season, but it peaked at the British Grand Prix when a new front wing was taken off Webber's car and bolted on to Vettel's. Webber said all he asks is that Red Bull offers a level playing field, and he is confident that will be the case this season.
"You want a good, fair crack at it and if you get caned, so be it," he told the Times. "But if you go to play at Wimbledon with flip-flops on and Federer is playing with Nikes, why bother turning up? The wings weren't worth a huge [advantage] but it was a tough decision for the team. I think, going forward, that we would probably do things differently. It was just another little mistake in the grand scheme of things."
He admitted that his personal battle with Vettel meant he lost sight of the bigger picture, especially at the Korean Grand Prix where he lost control of his Red Bull in wet conditions and seriously damaged his championship chances.
"I didn't want to get beaten by Sebastian," he added. "It's that fine line you walk with the competitive instinct. You go out thinking, 'I don't want to get beaten today', and you are stretched and the big picture is almost forgotten about. Did Vettel crack Webber that day? You could say he might have."
When asked by the Times if he was cracked, Webber responded: "I made more mistakes, early in that race, than I made for ages. I hadn't spun or lost control of the car for nearly a year and a half but I had a 'moment' in that corner [turn 12] in practice and I got on the white line in the race and crashed. It's one of Seb's strengths, early in a race when it's wet, that he drives the needle to make sure the guys behind can't see. Afterwards you think, 'Why didn't I settle for something different? Why didn't I take it to another day like I had been doing?' But you feel, 'Sebastian is one of your rivals and you need to beat him'. And it was probably wrong for the championship but hey..."
However, when asked if he had missed his one shot at the title in 2010, Webber said he still had plenty of fight for this season.
"We'll see," he smiled. "I think I've still plenty of mongrel in me."
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