Abu Dhabi : With Formula One's youngest and newly crowned world champion, Sebastian Vettel, yet to see another car beat him to the finish line after two races at the Yas Marina Circuit, there is no doubt that Red Bull have made the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix their own. And amid celebrating a thoroughly deserved double success of drivers' and constructors' titles, team principal Christian Horner revealed he had mentioned the idea of ending next season in the UAE capital for a third consecutive year instead of Brazil to Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone.
"I said to Bernie that maybe he should have a look at that because it's a great place to finish the year," Horner told XPRESS. "It's a fantastic circuit and a fantastic venue. We love coming here and Sebastian is unbeaten here so it's a great circuit for us."
For Horner, Red Bull's double was particularly sweet after all the talk ahead of the deciding race in Abu Dhabi had revolved around whether the Austrian team would tell Vettel, who was 15 points behind then leader Fernando Alonso in third, to step aside and aid his second placed teammate Mark Webber's quest for championship glory if such a situation were to arise. "Unbelievable, it is so big this. I'm just delighted it came down to what they did on the track," said Horner, who at 36 is the youngest team principal in Formula One. "The team didn't interfere, we've given both drivers a chance and we've backed them both equally. It was all down to what they did on the circuit."
The man who has been with Red Bull since its inception six seasons ago, added: "I'm just so proud of everything that we've done as a team. We achieved the team championship [in Brazil], and this was the icing on the cake. Sebastian didn't have a great chance but he took it, I'm so, so proud of him. But let's not forget Mark Webber. He drove fantastically well all year and he'll be back."
As overjoyed as Horner was, he paid tribute to his rivals, reserving special praise for Ferrari who enjoy a unique relationship with Abu Dhabi as well due to their tie up with Mubadala. "Yeah they have a lot of support, but they are great competitors," Horner said. "They've been very sporting to us, very gracious. They are a great team and that's what makes achieving this kind of result so special. So I'd like to thank our competition this year as well."
