The Turkish grand prix was a “f—-ing disaster” for Mark Webber and his Red Bull team.
The tough-talking Aussie only needed those two words to sum up the 300kmh collision with teammate Sebastian Vettel as they raced for the lead in the seventh round of the Formula One world championship.
But the disaster is likely to have much bigger implications for the team that has dominated this year’s title fight, as Webber and Vettel deny responsibility and team management - left with their heads in their hands as McLaren swept to an easy 1-2 finish after the collision - looks to be siding with the mercurial young German.
Webber’s assessment: “We don’t come here to have contact with each other but it happened today and I felt reasonably comfortable with my side of things, I did my best today.”
Vettel’s assessment: “I went on the inside, I was ahead and just going down to focus on the braking point and honestly, you can see we touched and he touched my right rear wheel and I went off.
“I was a bit quicker than Mark, I was getting closer and I knew I could maybe get him on the back straight. It was close, I passed him on the left and that was the story.” Herald Sun
Most blamed the young German Vettel for the manoeuvre. But while Horner attempted to divide the blame between his two drivers, he implied that the Australian Webber was the more culpable. “They should have given each other more room,” he said. Then he added: “Sebastian had a pace advantage on that tyre. Mark kept his line and squeezed him.”
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Horner said Vettel had managed to save an extra kilogramme of fuel “and so effectively he had one more lap of the optimum engine mode, but we couldn’t back him off because he was under pressure from Lewis Hamilton behind”. He added: “The frustrating thing is we have given away 28 points today and it should have been a one-two. Both drivers have also lost points. From a team point of view it doesn’t matter which way around they are, but the priority is to finish one-two and that is exactly what we should have done today.”
Horner added: “This will be dealt with before we go to [the next race in] Canada. I’ve spoken to both drivers. They are both grown-ups, they are both big boys, they are both competitors, and the most important thing is that we have given away a load of points and it must not happen again. They must learn from it. It is right to let the drivers race – we saw McLaren today letting their drivers race – but when drivers are in the same team it is important they give each other a bit more respect and concede if one has got a run on the other.”
“There is no fight,” the German insisted. “This is something that happens. We do not need it but there is nothing we can do now. I was a bit quicker than Mark for two laps. I was catching him and thought I could get him on the back straight. It’s not the best case scenario.” The Guardian
BBC commentator Martin Brundle was certainly of that opinion. “For me, unquestionably, Vettel swung right into Webber,” he said.
Lewis Hamilton, who profited from the collision, pointed out that Vettel had done a similar thing to him earlier in the race. “He was so aggressive as he tried to turn into me, but fortunately I had enough space,” Hamilton said. “It was the exact same thing as he did to Mark.”
Vettel, furious as he left his damaged car – making the sign for a madman by twirling his finger around his head, a gesture perhaps for the benefit of Webber – denied he was at fault, and Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko, a close friend of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, agreed.
“Sebastian was ahead, there was a corner coming so he had to move into his line,” Marko said. “He couldn’t have braked on the dirt.” Telegraph.co.uk
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