'Dangerous' to make Webber number 1

(GMM) Sebastian Vettel has rebuked his teammate's suggestion that the time is nearing for Red Bull to choose a number 1 driver.

Mark Webber, just 3 points off the championship lead with six races to go, is 28 points clear of Vettel in the drivers' standings.

After finishing second at Spa two weeks ago, the Australian suggested that Red Bull might be wise to favor him if the team wants to win the 2010 title.

But German Vettel, 23, hit back at that plan in an email interview with the Associated Press published on Thursday.

"For a driver this makes no sense — you don't give up trying to win the championship until it's mathematically impossible," he said.

"For the team it makes no sense to favor one if that means penalizing the other because you need both drivers scoring maximum points to win the constructors' championship," added Vettel.

"With two drivers close in the championship it is too dangerous to choose."

The bad news for Vettel is that even Dr Helmut Marko, who is thought to get along with the young German more than with Webber, can see that it is in Red Bull's interests to eventually back the driver with the best championship prospects.

"After Monza we will sit down all together and assess our championship chances," the team consultant is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper.