Mark Webber has almost completely ruled out his hopes of taking the drivers title, nearly two weeks after the points standings almost completely ruled him out. He also announced he would replace Crazy Flav as his manager with himself.
Webber admits that his chances of catching Jenson Button in the championship are now almost over, saying that he could well lose even a mathematical chance after this weekend's Singapore race, though he insists that the team will still look to fight for race wins between now and the end of the season.
The Aussie's first lap retirement in Italy last time out, coupled with Button's second place finish, left him 28.5 points behind with only 40 left to play for.
"The drivers' championship is very difficult now," Webber pointed out, rather obviously, "Jenson only has to get four or five points over us here and then it is all over.
"I am coming here trying to get the best result for me, but I am looking forward to Suzuka. There are some tracks coming up where we can get a good result, but I think the championship is very difficult for us now."
Webber backs up his theory that the title may well be over for him this weekend by saying that he didn't believe the Singapore track would suit the Red Bull car.
"We've seen in Monaco and Valencia that they haven't been the best circuits of the year compared to others," Webber lamented, "but that doesn't mean we will be at back massively. We will still be in hunt like at other venues, but stop-start nature is something we need to improve for next year."
The Aussie also announced that he would take over his managerial duties personally after breaking off his association with Flavio Briatore now that the Italian is banned from any association with motorsport.
"I've had Flavio looking after me for 11 years now," Webber mused wistfully, "I never looked at the contract since I signed it the first year. He has been sensational for me and I won't work with anyone else in the future if I can't work with him."
He also took time to defend the disgraced Briatore, saying that F1 will miss his personality, even if his final act was somewhat shameful. Webber said that the Fixgate controversy had not been "ideal" for the sport in general.
"[Briatore] is a very good character for our sport and a lot agree with that," Webber insisted, "It doesn't seem he will be around for a good while but that is the way it is.
"I don't think [Fixgate] is ideal for our sport, we all love this sport and strive hard to get here. It is something you aspire to, as journalists you aspire to work in a top line sport and it is a shame we are not reporting on activities we should be reporting on, and it's been the case like that for a few years now.
"I am running out of patience sticking up for the sport as other people I am sure are as well."
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