Sebastian Vettel has no influence or preference over who will partner him at Red Bull Racing in 2014, according to team principal Christian Horner.
With Formula 1 waving goodbye to Mark Webber at the end of the season, the fight for arguably the best seat on the grid continues.
The race to see who will partner the triple world champion at the Milton Keynes based squad continues with Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo openly leading the race. However recent reports suggest Fernando Alonso could be interested in a move. Ricciardo's Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was discounted from the running last month.
However Alonso is not thought to be a contender and it looks to be a straight fight between Raikkonen and Ricciardo. As for which one Vettel would prefer to have on the other side of the garage, Horner feels he isn't too bothered.
Speaking to The Press Association he said: "I don't think he minds to be honest. I don't think Sebastian has any concerns about going up against any driver, and he hasn't voiced a preference either way. He knows Kimi, he knows Daniel."
He added: "Both are very quick drivers and would represent a challenge for him, but he has not looked to influence the team in any way as to which way we should be looking."
But should the team champions hire Raikkonen for 2014, that would put two lead drivers in the team - a dynamic that Vettel has not had since his days at Toro Rosso. Horner doesn't see it as a problem though.
"Both drivers get the same opportunity," he explained. "It's down to what they do on the track that determines who is the lead driver or not, and the lead driver at any given time is the one who has the most points."
With both drivers being extremely good options, an announcement on the teams 2014 driver line-up is expected after the summer break. With plenty to mull over, Horner is still adamant that he will a strong driver pairing for 2014 - however it pans out.
"Daniel is at the beginning of his career, but he has the speed, and the rest you won't know until you put him in that situation," he said. "But we've a reasonable amount of information to make a decision.
"We obviously want the two fastest and strongest drivers we can put in the car for next year, and both Daniel and Kimi would represent extremely good options."
With a number of high profile seats potentially up for grabs next year, the silly season will continue for quite some time.
However what Horner's comments do confirm is that Alonso isn't in the running for a drive with Red Bull next season.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The race to see who will partner the triple world champion at the Milton Keynes based squad continues with Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo openly leading the race. However recent reports suggest Fernando Alonso could be interested in a move. Ricciardo's Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne was discounted from the running last month.
However Alonso is not thought to be a contender and it looks to be a straight fight between Raikkonen and Ricciardo. As for which one Vettel would prefer to have on the other side of the garage, Horner feels he isn't too bothered.
Speaking to The Press Association he said: "I don't think he minds to be honest. I don't think Sebastian has any concerns about going up against any driver, and he hasn't voiced a preference either way. He knows Kimi, he knows Daniel."
He added: "Both are very quick drivers and would represent a challenge for him, but he has not looked to influence the team in any way as to which way we should be looking."
But should the team champions hire Raikkonen for 2014, that would put two lead drivers in the team - a dynamic that Vettel has not had since his days at Toro Rosso. Horner doesn't see it as a problem though.
"Both drivers get the same opportunity," he explained. "It's down to what they do on the track that determines who is the lead driver or not, and the lead driver at any given time is the one who has the most points."
With both drivers being extremely good options, an announcement on the teams 2014 driver line-up is expected after the summer break. With plenty to mull over, Horner is still adamant that he will a strong driver pairing for 2014 - however it pans out.
"Daniel is at the beginning of his career, but he has the speed, and the rest you won't know until you put him in that situation," he said. "But we've a reasonable amount of information to make a decision.
"We obviously want the two fastest and strongest drivers we can put in the car for next year, and both Daniel and Kimi would represent extremely good options."
With a number of high profile seats potentially up for grabs next year, the silly season will continue for quite some time.
However what Horner's comments do confirm is that Alonso isn't in the running for a drive with Red Bull next season.
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