Webber has more room for mistakes

Mark Webber is Red Bull's best hope of claiming the world crown and it would be useful to have his teammate watch his back.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has taken over at the top of the championship standings, ahead of Mark Webber of Red Bull-Renault, with his victory in the Korean Grand Prix.

With Fernando Alonso taking advantage in South Korea, Mark Webber must cut out errors to win the title

Red Bull-Renault could have made a huge mistake in not asking Sebastian Vettel to play second fiddle to Mark Webber.

Webber is their best hope of claiming the world title and it would be useful to have his teammate watching his back.

There has been friction between the two this year and, for the early part of the season, the team management seemed to be favouring the German.

Red Bull initially blamed the Australian for the crash between the two in Turkey and then the team took Webber's newly designed wing and fitted it on Vettel's car ahead of qualifying for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Vettel then took pole but Webber went on to win the race and sent the sarcastic message, "Not bad for a No 2 driver," on the radio to Christian Horner, the team principal.

Now the shoe is on the other foot with Webber sitting 11 points behind Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship while Vettel is 25 points adrift of the leader in fourth place in the standing with just two races to go.

I was surprised to hear Horner say after the Korean Grand Prix that they were still going to support both drivers equally.

That may have been a knee-jerk reaction because Vettel now has, at best, an outside chance of being champion while things are still in Webber's hands. If he wins in Brazil and Abu Dhabi he is champion - regardless of what Alonso does.

I admire Red Bull's determination not to favour a driver and if they had it would have been harsh on Vettel, who had been excellent at the two previous races.

I am convinced that the title will be decided in Abu Dhabi, especially after what we saw in South Korea on Sunday, but Webber needs to get the better of his Ferrari rival in Sao Paulo to give himself a good chance.

We saw a dramatic shift in fortune in the wet in Yeongam.

Going into the race, Webber led the standings, but he crashed out. Then Vettel looked on target to take the championship lead until his engine blew.

It was Alonso who triumphed and took the top spot in the drivers' standings for the first time since the second round in Australia.

The Spaniard has come on strong in the second half of the campaign and is driving superbly.

Without the engine problem I think Vettel would have won, but it was a good drive. His car is not as quick as the Red Bull but he kept up the pressure and was in position to take advantage when the problems did arise.

Alonso has been here before. He knows how to win titles having done it in 2005 and 2006. The Ferrari is not the quickest car, but it is good enough for him to be a factor and he is going to be very hard to beat, especially now he has the momentum with him.

Of the two circuits remaining, I think Ferrari will go well in Sao Paulo, as they have done before, while the Yas Marina Circuit should be a Red Bull track.

But if Webber is going to claw back Alonso, he needs to race aggressively at Interlagos.

Webber will not want to have to rely on an Alonso engine problem - the Spaniard has used his quota of eight for the season - or him not being on the podium in the capital.

I think that it is realistically between those two, although Vettel and Lewis Hamilton both are still mathematically in with a chance.

Vettel was superb in South Korea until his engine went. And, having praised Webber's consistency in my last column, it was typical that he then made an unforced error by running wide and crashing out.

It was a huge error to make and he has put himself under massive pressure now.

Things could also have been better for Hamilton. Without his error, where he ran wide and allowed Alonso through, I think he would have taken 25 points.

If that had happened he would have been seven points off the lead. Instead he is 21 and I do not think his McLaren-Mercedes will be fast enough in Brazil or Abu Dhabi for him to win unless his rivals have serious problems.

Jenson Button also still has an outside chance - he is 42 points behind - but his championship defence is virtually over.

I think he has driven well on occasions, especially at the start of the season, but he had already left himself with too much to do before his poor 12th place in Korea.

Johnny Herbert is a former F1 driver who won three races. His column is written with the assistance of staff writer Graham Caygill