RED BULL Racing team principal Christian Horner has slammed claims by Gerhard Berger that Mark Webber deliberately attempted to take out one of his title rivals in Korea on Sunday as ‘‘ridiculous.’’ Webber crashed out on lap 19 of the Korean Grand Prix, spinning into a wall after the wet conditions caught out the Australian.

In drifting back across the circuit, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was unable to take evasive action, also retiring after hitting the Australian.

It led to a bizarre claim from Berger on Austrian station Servus TV that Webber ‘‘would have preferred (Fernando) Alonso or (Lewis) Hamilton,’’ rather than taking out Rosberg.

The 10-times grand prix winner added: ‘‘He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car at the wall.’’ Horner has naturally issued a robust defence of Webber, who himself apologised after a race in which he lost his championship lead to Alonso.

Horner said: ‘‘Just to be absolutely clear – Mark’s intention was not to take out another driver after his crash in the Korean Grand Prix, and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

‘‘After Mark’s impact with the wall, it was clear on the TV and from the data that his car was badly damaged.

‘‘However, the natural and immediate instinct of any competitive driver is not to give up and to keep going.

‘‘In the conditions, Mark made the snap decision to continue as every driver would in that situation.

‘‘It’s absurd to suggest that Mark would ever deliberately take out another driver.”