Were Red Bull Right To Give Team Orders?

In the aftermath of the British Grand Prix, which saw one of the most exciting finishes to a Grand Prix for a while (since Canada at least), it emerged that Mark Webber had ignored at least two team orders, instructing him to "maintain the gap" to his team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel, as now appears customary, led most of the Grand Prix. In the closing stages the Australian's pace was much quicker than his team mate's, and was catching him considerably each lap.

A radio message from Red Bull boss Christian Horner to Webber was braodcast during the final laps. "Maintain the gap, Mark" was played for all TV audiences to hear, but all radio messages are delayed before being broadcast. It was immediately clear that Webber had either not received, or was deliberately ignoring the instruction, as he continued to gain on his younger team mate.

Webber attempted an overtaking manoeuver on Vettel on the former start/finish straight, but Vettel defended well and prevented the pass.

Webber defended his decision to disobey his team in the post-race press conference, and again on his column on the BBC website, saying that he knew that provided he acted sensibly and didn't collide with his team mate, then he would be able to sleep easily, which he wouldn't have been able to do if he obeyed his team and maintained the gap.

Were Red Bull right to give this instruction?

Sebastian Vettel is so far ahead in the Championship race (80 points ahead) he could afford to miss the next three races and he would still be leading.
If the two drivers had collided and they had both retired from the race, Vettel's lead would have been reduced to 71 points, and Mark Webber would have fallen from second in the Championship to fourth, with Hamilton benefiting the most - overtaking Webber and Alonso to move second.

Arguably, the team orders - if they were to be used - should perhaps have been given to Vettel, instructing him to let his faster team mate through. If this would have happenend, Vettel's lead would be reduced to 74 points, with Webber still second, Alonso third and Hamilton fourth.

However, it must be said that Red Bull should perhaps not have used team orders at all.

In Germany last year, Ferrari caused an uproar amongst fans and rival teams by instructing Felipe Massa to let his team mate Fernando Alonso through. As team orders were outlawed in 2010, Ferrari were fined for bringing the sport into disrepute.
For this season, the team order ban has been dropped, and therefore Red Bull were within their rights to instruct their drivers as they did in Silverstone.

Despite the two Red Bull drivers colliding in spectacular style in the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix, the team insisted that they would not use team orders, and the drivers would be free to race each other for the remainder of the 2010 season.

Horner explained the reasons for this decision: "was it wrong to allow the drivers to race each other? I don't think it was. If we wanted processions we would tell the drivers after the start to hold positions. But that is not what Red Bull is about, and that is not what our beliefs of what grand prix racing should be about."

Red Bull managed to win both the 2010 Drivers and Constructors World Championships in the final race of the 2010 season, despite keeping true to their no team orders promise, and it looking like Alonso would win the title, leading the Championship into the final race.

Red Bull again promised that their drivers would be free to race in 2011, and yet, despite Vettel appearing to have the title already wrapped up, they have chosen to apply the orders at their home Grand Prix, where in 2010 Webber said of his hard fought victory "Not bad for a number two driver".

Read Red Bull's 2010 comments at www.planetf1.com

FIA In U-Turns Galore

In a rapidly changing series of events (so much so that this will probably be out of date by the time you read it), the exhaust blown diffusers - used by most teams - have been banned, allowed, and now the position appears undecided.

The whole debacle has annoyed many associated with the sport, and the disagreement reached a very public boiling point during the press conference on Friday afternoon where a very heated debate took place between Red Bull's Christian Horner, and McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh.

However, things seemed calmer by the evening, as the FIA announced they had agreed more lenient terms with the two main protagonists, Renault (Red Bull) and Mercedes (McLaren).

Saturday morning, things had changed again. The FIA decided that they would not be able to be as lenient with the Really powered cars as they had hoped on Friday.
This clearly angered Horner and chief Red Bull designer Adrian Newey, yet their two cars managed to acheive 1-2 in qualifying.
After qualifying, the FIA performed a further U-turn, confirming that if all teams are in agreement, they rules can revert back to how thet were pre-Silverstone.

It's a rather complicated issue even for the teams and drivers tofor anyone to understand, let alone fans - something which Mark Webber referred to in the post qualifying press conference.
The best person to explain it in detail is everyone's favourite technical guru, Scarbs. Visit scarbsf1.wordpress.com for more!

Hamilton Denies Red Bull Switch

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who yesterday swapped cars with NASCAR star Tony Stewart for the day, was rumoured to have met with Red Bull chief Christian Horner after the Canadian Grand Prix, fueling speculation of a switch to the reigning World Champions.

Hamilton didn't deny meeting with Horner - who he said that he has known since before he drove in Formula 1 - but claimed that whilst McLaren could provide him with a competitive car, he has no need to leave the Woking-based team.

For more on this, visit www.autosport.com

Hamilton For Red Bull?

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton is always a 'topic' for the team.

At present, only Sebastian Vettel has been confirmed at Red Bull beyond the 2011 season, as Mark Webber may have begun his final year with the current World Champions.

Hamilton still has a few more years left on his contract with Woking based McLaren, but has recently emphasised that he does not want to win just one World Championship (separate story - click here)

See www.planet-f1.com

However, Red Bull chief Christian Horner has denied Marko's claims, suggesting that Vettel and Hamilton's personalities may clash if they drove for the same team.
Vettel and Webber infamously clashed on and off the track during the 2010 campaign, and Hamilton had a fiery relationship with his team mate Fernando Alonso in Hamilton's debut season. It is therefore not surprising that Horner would be concerned that the two drivers - who were both the youngest ever World Champions at the time they won - would not compliment each other.

However, Horner didn't completely rule out a future move.

"If he wanted to drive for Red Bull then of course you couldn't ignore a driver of his calibre."

Visit www.autosport.com for more on this story.

Vettel Commits Future

Red Bull have today announced that Sebastian Vettel has extended his contract with the team until the end of the 2014 season.

The team are obviously pleased with this confirmation, with team boss Christian Horner saying that it was important to get this resolved before the season began, so that they could focus solely on racing.

Mark Webber's contract with the team is due to expire at the end of this season.
If he doesn't renew his contract it will be interesting to see who the team will employ to replace him, as Vettel will surely be seen as the number one driver, having been on the team's books for years.

For more on this, visit www.autosport.com