Horner: Red Bull can still catch Brawn

With a major overhaul of Red Bull's RB5 having delivered a step forward in performance at Silverstone, the team is heading into this weekend's German Grand Prix confident that it can stave off its main rivals again.

And although Brawn and Jenson Button have comfortable advantages at the head of the points tables, team principal Christian Horner thinks his outfit can swiftly claw back the deficit.

"There is still a big points difference when you look at the stats between Jenson and our drivers, and also in the constructors," he explained. "But if we keep having weekends like we did at Silverstone, that can be whittled away reasonably quickly.

"We are just going to focus one race at a time and the championship will take care of itself."

Horner believes that too much emphasis had been put on the cool weather at Silverstone helping his outfit's performance - as he thought it was now a major threat to Brawn in any condition.

"I think that a lot is made about the weather," explained Horner. "We bolted on quite a bit of performance at Silverstone, and we are not nervous whether it is hot, cold, wet or dry.

"Inevitably the layout of this circuit and the lack of high speed corners will bring Brawn closer to us, but we are confident we can give them a good run for their money this weekend."

Horner thinks there is now little to choose between Red Bull Racing and Brawn, with the relative performance of the two teams even swinging on a daily basis.

"It see-saws so much," he said. "We thought we were quickest on Saturday in Turkey and then Jenson delivered a brilliant performance in the race. Then at Silverstone we completely dominated that event.

"But the pendulum does seem to be swinging from circuit to circuit, but we are confident the upgrades we have brought to the car. We understand that they are working well, and hopefully that will carry through into this weekend."

And Horner is also adamant that his team's championship fortunes will not be hurt by his drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber being so closely matched that they could take points off each other.

"It is a very healthy situation for the team. They are pushing each other very hard. They are both on top of their game at the moment, and they are bringing the very best out of each other."