Vettel-Webber collision sparks debate

After exceeding Fernando Alonso on Felipe Massa (Chinese GP, see elsewhere), the hooking between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber (see video) is the second event involving two teammates that has caused controversy this season. But, this weekend, the consequences were much more serious for Red Bull than they had been for Ferrari, since Vettel retired (18 points lost) and Webber dropped to third place (10 points lost).

« It?s not normal that this happened, Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner told us. When we look at McLaren, no car ended up in the gravel trap. We have always allowed our pilots to fight against each other, provided that they maintain a safety margin, which they did not do today. »

Indeed, at McLaren, everything went well. Powered to the lead by the Red Bull clash, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button challenged each other for a few laps, even overtaking each other twice, without incident. “ At McLaren, we have the right to fight among ourselves on the track, without forgetting that in the end, we are a team “, reminds us of Lewis Hamilton.

« Whether it's Jenson or I, we both think first of the constructors' title, even if we both want to win the drivers' title, continues the 2008 World Champion. We're not stupid, I won't do anything dangerous to touch him, and vice versa. It's a good thing because when we fight against each other, we know that the other won't take any risks. This doesn't seem to be the case for others. We have a lot of respect for each other, so we shouldn't have this kind of problem. »

A salty remark for the attention of Red Bull, which underlines the golden rule forgotten by the Milton Keynes team in Istanbul. Because, if Vettel and Webber made mistakes in Turkey, it is also due to the fact that they were not ideally managed at this moment of the race. On the one hand, Mark Webber was instructed to save fuel, so the Australian slowed down. On the other hand, Sebastian Vettel was to receive the same instruction, but was not called to order as he came back on the race leader. If Red Bull Racing can regret this failure which caused its loss, the most difficult mission is now to digest this failure and calm things down.

A delicate mission underlined by Eric Boullier, who knows, as team manager, that the role of his Red Bull Racing counterpart, Christian Horner, is very important. “ We must already let the emotion pass and we must above all debrief quickly, put things straight and start from a blank sheet of paper., says the Renault boss F1 Team at AUTOhebdo.fr. Either way, there is always a rivalry. Even within the team, since each driver has his own mechanics and engineers; we must succeed in maintaining cohesion. In this case, the pilots need to sit around a table again and start shaking hands again. I think that within the team, a debriefing is necessary so that things do not escalate. »