“Mark qualified very well and he drove some great races,” the 34-year-old underlined, “certainly earlier in the year. Obviously his lap at Silverstone was quite stunning. It was a shame that he couldn't convert that into a decent result on the Sunday.

“In hindsight we should have been on the podium in Monza after qualifying third there, and obviously Singapore was extremely frustrating. Our only mechanically-induced retirement of the year robbed Mark of a podium, and what could even have been a possible win.

“He had a lot of bad luck as well in the second half of the year – being hit by [Heikki] Kovalainen at Spa, the spin at Monza, the spin at Silverstone, the engine penalty in China having qualified sixth – it was just one thing after another.”

Webber, though, remains on-board at the energy drinks-backed outfit in 2009, when he will be joined by Vettel, a driver who he accused following the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix of being a 'kid with not enough experience' who had 'f***ed up' his race, but one who marked himself out during his first full season in F1 this year as a potential world champion in-waiting.

Horner knows that in the young German – who spectacularly triumphed in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza back in September for Red Bull 'junior' operation Scuderia Toro Rosso – he has a very special talent on his hands indeed.

“As in all these situations there's never just one thing,” the former racer concluded, “but essentially the chassis is identical between ourselves and Toro Rosso, and if you're looking for differences then the obvious areas are the drivers and engines. It's not right to point fingers fully in this direction, because at the end of the day we are a team, but obviously Toro Rosso's second half of the season, with the combination of an identical chassis, Vettel and Ferrari, highlighted what was achievable.

“I think over the second half of the season yes, there were differences in the engines, which has been many times documented in different publications, but we mustn't forget that Sebastian Vettel very much looks like a star of the future. He produced some phenomenal drives, of which Monza was of course the highlight, and we're absolutely delighted to have him in the team for next season.”

by Russell Atkins

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