Webber: Too early for RBR team orders

The German has won two grands prix, in China and Great Britain, and carries momentum into his home race this weekend after Red Bull's dominant performance at Silverstone.

But Webber is only 3.5 points behind Vettel in the world championship and says there are no team orders stopping him from fighting for his first win in Formula 1.

"There was a lot of talk after Silverstone that I had to beat my team-mate Sebastian Vettel in Germany to retain the balance in the team but that's not the case," Webber said in his column for the BBC Sport website.

"It is too early to start backing one driver, and the team are being brilliant with that.

"It's only natural that there is a bit of momentum with Sebastian within Red Bull because he took the chequered flag in China and Britain.

"You can't escape the fact that it would be different if I had won a race, but if I can qualify a bit higher and keep up the consistency then I'm confident there will be a win just around the corner.

"Sebastian is only 3.5 points ahead of me in the drivers' championship which means mathematically I still have a chance to do very well," he added.

"I'm staying relaxed but I'm not just going to settle for staying close to him."

Webber says that if he and Vettel are to close the gap to runaway championship leader Jenson Button, who had won five grands prix for Brawn, they will need Red Bull to further establish the performance advantage it showed at Silverstone.

The Australian believes that Button's metronomic form means that he is unlikely to throw away his points lead through mistakes, so he and Vettel will have to try and catch the Briton through sheer speed.

"The battle for the drivers' championship is much tougher for us because, the way he's [Button] been driving, I don't see Jenson losing the fight himself," said Webber.

"He has been so impressively consistent in all sessions and all races and just doesn't make mistakes.

"If he loses the world title now, it will be down to a problem from the team, not him," he added. "Brawn are still catchable in the constructors' standings. There is no doubt they are on the front foot with a 30-point lead but it is do-able.

"The reality is these are unchartered waters for Red Bull but there is still a lot to play for and I'm not giving up on anything."