Horner denies being undermined

Christian Horner is adamant rebel driver Sebastian Vettel has not usurped him as team principal of Red Bull.

Vettel appeared to stamp his authority on the Milton Keynes-based marque by ignoring instruction from Horner to hold station behind team-mate Mark Webber at the Malaysian Grand Prix three weeks ago. The three-times world champion quickly apologised for his actions, only to effectively make light of his 'mea culpa' with a no-holds-barred attack on Webber and the team on Thursday.

But Horner said: "Is my leadership undermined? I don't think so - I've led the team from the time Red Bull entered the sport to 35 victories and six world championships. Of course, there have been lumps and bumps along the way, incidents between the two drivers, but we retain them because they are fiercely competitive individuals."

He added: "They drive each other forward and bring the best out of each other, and at some points it's uncomfortable for the team.

"But it's a healthy rivalry, even though they took things into their own hands."

Vettel admitted he would "probably" ignore Horner again if the opportunity arose; appreciated he had undermined his boss, and made it clear it was he, not Webber, who deserved to win.

The 25-year-old also confirmed his show of dissent was "indirectly" payback for Webber refusing to help him or the team in the past.

Addressing his apparent lack of leadership at present, Horner added: "In that race he (Vettel) didn't do what I asked.

"Was I happy about it? Of course I wasn't. Did we discuss it? Yes, we did. Did he apologise? Yes. Has he learned from it? I'm sure he has. Would he do it again? I think he'd think twice, but as he explained yesterday there is an awful lot of history between those drivers.

"As we've always known there's never been too much love lost between them, a situation that's isn't new, that has been clear for probably the last four to five years."