Webber swears to draw a line under rivalry at Red Bull

(GETTY IMAGES)

Mark Webber now wishes he had turned the air blue at Silverstone as it might have avoided red faces all round at Red Bull Racing.

The team's front-wing controversy dominated the British Grand Prix weekend a fortnight ago, one that culminated in Webber claiming a deserved victory, but also sparking a storm. After taking the chequered flag, Webber sniped over the team radio, "Not bad for a No 2 driver," in reference to the fact that the new front wing on his car had been removed 25 minutes before qualifying and handed to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after his had broken in final practice.

As all radio transmissions are screened by the sport's ruling body, the FIA, prior to being aired, and only a select handful are given clearance, Webber knows if he had sworn in making his comment it would have been censored.

"I've no regrets, but as a sportsman sometimes things happen in the heat of the moment," said Webber yesterday ahead of this weekend's German Grand Prix. "I should have put some colourful language either side of my radio transmission because maybe it would never have got run. But obviously I was polite, it did get run and a few extra people heard what I had to say."

The air has since been cleared between himself and the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, who has admitted to a breakdown in communication with his driver.

"At Silverstone we could have done a better job in communicating with Mark just before qualifying," Horner confirmed. "Situations happen sometimes up and down the pit lane where decisions have to be made. We spoke about it a lot after the event, and a lot was made of it, more than it warranted.

"But as a team we are pushing very hard, pushing to get components to the circuit very aggressively, as are the other front-running teams. That's the way we will continue to operate, and it's the only way we will be able to compete and fight with the likes of Ferrari and McLaren."

The 33-year-old Australian, who trails the championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 17 points, is now eager to focus on his push for the Formula One world title. "Now here we are at the German Grand Prix ready to go and I'm looking forward to it. It was a unique situation the other weekend, one we've learnt from and we will be going forward very aggressively from here on."