Sebastian Vettel hinted at a deterioration in his relationship with teammate Mark Webber at the end of a dramatic British Grand Prix weekend for the Red Bull Racing duo yesterday.
Sebastian Vettel hinted at a deterioration in his relationship with teammate Mark Webber at the end of a dramatic British Grand Prix weekend for the Red Bull Racing duo yesterday.
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| goody, goody on the surface? Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber (left) shakes teammate Sebastian Vettel's hand in the paddock of the Silverstone circuit yesterday. PIC/AFP |
What should have been a superb occasion for the Milton Keynes-based outfit, who locked out the front row of the grid and saw Webber take a faultless win, instead degenerated into antagonism as accusations of bias in the camp again took centre stage.
Matters came to a head when Red Bull team principal Christian Horner elected to remove an updated front wing from the car of Webber and attach it to that of Vettel, who had suffered a failure of the same component.
Horner said the decision was based on the fact Vettel was ahead of Webber in the title race heading into this weekend, but the incident rekindled memories of the Turkish Grand Prix in May, when Webber and Vettel collided when dicing for the lead.
Favouritism
Red Bull faced accusations of favouritism towards Vettel on that occasion by appearing to take the side of the young German, who most neutral observers felt was to blame for the coming-together.
Although the team papered over the cracks after Turkey, the controversial decision to hand the new wing to Vettel at Webber's expense has reopened the rift.
Webber has made no secret of his disgust at his treatment, pointedly crowing over the team radio at the end of the race that his performance was "not bad for a number two driver".
And Vettel indicated after the race that the distance between himself and Webber is growing. "I focus on myself and so does he, I guess," he said. "Especially after what has happened in the past, people have different opinions, I have my opinion. You get to know people a bit better and, I think, see their true faces.
"I think I learnt my lesson and I'll focus on myself."
Reports of unrest in the camp will not however disguise the fact that once again Vettel failed to convert first place on the starting grid into a win. Vettel has turned only one of his five pole positions this season into a race win and again hit trouble at the start yesterday, suffering a first-lap puncture which contributed to a seventh-placed finish at the flag. "I had a bad start with lots of wheelspin, so I lost the immediate pull away, probably trying a bit too hard," the pole-sitter said. "I went into turn one and had to let Mark past. People said that Lewis [Hamilton] touched me but I didn't feel anything. Mark had a better start. I moved to the right trying to defend but he was already there. There was no point to do something
stupid.
