Mark Webber rewarded for excellent F1 start with new deal at Red Bull

Mark Webber, the surprise joint leader of the Formula One world championship, is set to sign a new contract with Red Bull, shutting out the chance of a comeback by the former champion Kimi Raikkonen. The 33-year-old Webber was expected to be overshadowed by his younger team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, but with back-to-back victories in Barcelona and Monaco the Australian has pulled alongside Vettel at the top of the drivers' standings with 78 points. Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, said tonight: "We have been happy with the job that Mark is doing, so why would you change? When we sit down and talk about it, it will be very straightforward. Mark is an important member of the team, he enjoys driving for the team and we have a great balance between our two drivers. So it is the usual thing: if it is not broken, don't fix it." Raikkonen, the 2007 champion, was linked with Red Bull throughout the winter. But when Horner was asked whether he was interested in the Finn, he said: "No. Kimi has committed himself to rallying and he seems to be enjoying that environment." Webber said: "It's nice to be in the team after all the work we put in during the tough years. You are always hopeful that you will drive a car which is very competitive. But also as a driver you don't hang around this business that long if you're not performing." Meanwhile Jenson Button, the world champion, conceded how difficult it would be to catch Webber and Vettel. "The trouble is that they keep adding stuff to the car and it's just getting quicker and quicker," said the McLaren driver. "So we're not just trying to catch them, we're trying to stay with them. And that's difficult enough in itself. "They have a lot of down-force, basically. They also have other things that they do very well. And their qualifying pace is amazing. They're so fast in qualifying." But Button has not conceded defeat. "We should never get disheartened after six races," he said. "They might be first and second in the championships but they're only three points ahead of [Fernando] Alonso and eight in front of me. "And eight on old money is about three points. So it's nothing. They haven't made the most of their advantage. They've had reliability issues, they've made mistakes – as we have."