F1 title contenders agree anything can happen

Formula One’s five title contenders lined up together at South Korea’s new circuit on Thursday and agreed that the championship was still wide open.

McLaren F1 driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, Ferrari F1 driver Fernando Alonso of Spain, Red Bull F1 driver Mark Webber of Australia, F1 commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone, McLaren F1 driver Jenson Button of Britain and Red Bull F1 driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany pose for pictures at the Korea International Circuit in Yeongam October 21, 2010. The first South Korean F1 GP race will be held on Sunday. REUTERS

Australian Mark Webber leads Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and his own Red Bull team mate Sebastian Vettel by 14 points with three races remaining, including Sunday’s inaugural Grand Prix at the new Yeongam circuit.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is a further 14 points back, with team mate and reigning champion Jenson Button fifth and three more adrift.

“No one in this room knows what’s going to happen in the next three races, nobody,” Webber told a news conference with the other four after they had all posed for a group photograph on the pit wall.

That image harked back to a similar one, now a classic in Formula One lore, of the four championship contenders from 1986 -- Brazilians Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna, Frenchman Alain Prost and Britain’s Nigel Mansell.

“We can talk here for hours about what we’re going to do, what’s going to happen, this and that, upside down, inside out. No one knows, so we’re going to go out there, do our stuff,” Webber added.

“Clearly Seb and I have had a good season. We’re both in with a chance of doing quite well in the championship and also the team is doing well in the constructors’, because both of us obviously are getting quite a few points.”

Red Bull are 45 points clear of McLaren in the team standings.

Sunday’s race could be Button’s last chance but the Briton refused to give up hope.

“Every time we go to a race it seems this is the critical race,” he declared. “It is obviously a lot more difficult for us to win the world championship this year but we have seen in past seasons that anything is possible.”

The example of Kimi Raikkonen, who won the 2007 title for Ferrari after coming from 17 points down with two races remaining, is a reminder of that.

Vettel, for one, was not counting on lightning striking twice.

“Of course he showed it’s possible but he also did his maximum and he won those races but it also required the others not to finish in the points or not to finish high up,” he said.

“So I don’t think you can really compare. I think it will be different this year.

“I think all of us could be very strong potentially here, so we need to see how it goes,” Vettel added.

Hamilton, who lost that lead to Raikkonen and now finds himself hoping to perform a similarly remarkable comeback, felt anything was possible.

“I don’t think the gap is that big, so it’s not impossible,” he said. “We’ve outqualified them (Red Bull)... what was it, one race maybe? So they’ve had more than a few pole positions but no, I think we can close the gap, hopefully.”

Alonso hails F1 season as his best ever

YEONGAM, South Korea (Reuters) - Double Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso put his past success with Renault in perspective Thursday by hailing the current season with Ferrari as his best ever.

Winner of four races with the Italian team, which he joined from Renault at the end of last year after one season with McLaren in 2007, the Spaniard lies second overall in the championship.

Despite being 14 points behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber with three races remaining, including Sunday’s inaugural South Korean Grand Prix, Alonso said his campaign had been a great experience on many levels.

 “For me personally it has been a great 2010 championship, driving for a new team,” he told a news conference at the Korea International Circuit.

“Great integration with Ferrari from day one, I felt very comfortable. It has been probably the best year of my career so far,” declared the man who won his titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006.

“A great experience, very happy. So, now, in the last three races we will try and arrive in a position to fight for the championship in Abu Dhabi.”

Alonso had a close relationship with team boss Flavio Briatore at Renault until the Italian left under a cloud when a race-fixing scandal broke last year.

The flamboyant Briatore, who remains banned from any active role inside the Formula One paddock until 2013, is still Alonso’s manager.

Questioned further about his season, Alonso said that even if it was not yet finished it was still the best “in terms of happiness, motivation, driving and the team itself.

“Obviously it would be nice to become champion this year,” added the Spaniard, who stayed out in Asia after the Japanese Grand Prix. “But even if we cannot do it, I will have great, great memories of 2010.”

Five drivers are fighting for the title, with Alonso level on points with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 champion, and reigning champion Jenson Button are 28 and 31 points behind Webber respectively.

Alonso had some engine problems earlier in the season but he said the risk of having to use more than his allocation and picking up a penalty was no longer a concern.

“So far the situation has been under control and we should have no concerns for the remaining races and everything is okay for us,” he said.

Red Bull still boosting Vettel

Red Bull claim young German Sebastian Vettel has more momentum that Mark Webber despite the Australian holding a clear lead in the Formula One world championship.

Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz maintains Vettel is quicker but admits Webber’s 14-point edge could be enough to win him the title.

“Sebastian seems to have the speed at the moment,” Mateschitz said. “Whether Mark’s lead will be enough for the championship, it’s still to be seen.”

Webber will attempt to stretch his lead at this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix, which will be hosting its inaugural F1 round.

He is desperate to generate some extra breathing space between himself and Vettel and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who are tied for second.

Webber has 220 points, 14 ahead of Vettel and Alonso, with only Korea, Brazil and the Abu Dhabi finale remaining.

Mateschitz said that, despite Webber’s lead, Red Bull would issue no team orders to their drivers. However he cautioned they needed to work together rather than imprudently race each other.

“There are no team orders from our side. The winner should and will be the one who makes fewer mistakes and is the fastest,” Mateschitz said.

He said neither driver could afford mistakes and they needed to depend on each other in order to claim a first title for themselves and the team.

The perception this season is that Vettel has been favoured by Red Bull who want to see a younger image with the championship in a bid to better promote their `energy’ drinks.

However Mateschitz has denied the suggestion.

“If we win the drivers’ title we would be happy for both in the same way because each one would deserve it.” he said.

“It is important that they both know that they need the other man to become World Champion, and that they are also driving for the team and the Constructors’ Championship,” Mateschitz told DPA.

A number of scenarios remain with a total of 75 points available over the last three rounds but Mateschitz says Red Bull should win “on paper.”

“You can never rule out technical problems or accidents you didn’t cause. In this respect we don’t need luck, we must rather have no bad luck,” he said.