F1 News
Date: 10/July/2011
For the second year running, Mark Webber left the 2011 British F1 Grand Prix feeling he had been wrongly treated by his own Red Bull F1 team.
In 2010 a victorious Webber made the famous quote "not bad for a number two driver", in a public dig at being forced to hand 'his' new front wing over to team-mate Sebastian Vettel earlier in the weekend.
This time it wasn't new parts that riled Webber, but the instigation of dreaded team orders in the closing stages of the race.
Having hunted down Vettel, Webber looked to have an excellent chance of snatching second place from the German. Red Bull thought it was too much of a risk and repeatedly radioed Webber to 'maintain position'.
Webber claims he ignored the instruction, but was unable to overtake and finished just 0.4sec behind his team-mate.
"I am not fine with it. No," said Webber of the team orders. "If Fernando [Alonso] retires on the last lap we are battling for the victory so I was fine until the end.
"Of course I ignored the team as I want to try and get another place. Seb was doing his best and I was doing my best. I don't want to crash with anyone, but that was it."
Webber revealed that he was asked "four or five" times to back off by the team, indicating the level of concern by Red Bull that he wouldn’t obey.
"There was a lot of traffic coming to me [over the radio], but I was still trying to do my best to pass the guy in front.
"I just want to race to the end," he added. "Of course, [the team] want the points, but I also need to try and get some more points as well."
Points shouldn’t be too much of a concern to Red Bull.
Reigning world champion Vettel now leads the drivers' standings by a massive 80 points over nearest rival Webber, with Alonso 92 points from the top despite his first win of the year.
Red Bull is also 110 points clear of McLaren in the Constructors' championship and has exactly double the points of third-place Ferrari.
There are few things that irritate the public and press more about F1 than team orders, but a previous ban was overturned on the grounds of being unworkable.
Nevertheless, a surprised Vettel found himself being asked if the Silverstone result was 'a sham' - and even if he could be considered a worthy champion.
"Mark tried to pass me; I could stay ahead," shrugged Vettel. "If it would have been the other way round - of course, I would like to overtake Mark, but there's no point trying to do something stupid, especially from a team point of view. So I don't see why there is a big fuss really."
Vettel added that there is a difference between being asked to hold position and being asked to change position.
"I think we were racing, it was not a scheduled 'I move right, you move left.' As Mark said, he stayed flat out and tried to race me, as hard as he could, didn't find his way past. To me, at this stage it's quite amusing," smiled Vettel.
Team orders controversy had previously flared up after the 2010 German Grand Prix, when Felipe Massa allowed Alonso to pass after a radio message - complete with an apology - made clear what Ferrari expected him to do.
Despite uproar from fans, that incident ultimately led to the removal of the team orders ban, because it highlighted how difficult it was to police.
Ironically, Webber had been one of the few drivers sympathetic to Ferrari's situation.
"I stick by what I said last year," he insisted on Sunday. "They had one guy trying to stay in the championship fight - Fernando. Fernando was much, much quicker, it was in the middle of a grand prix and he [Massa] released him."
Alonso himself insisted Red Bull had no case to answer at Silverstone and couldn't understand the level of interest being shown by the press.
"I'm not happy with any politics, not to me and not to Red Bull," he said. "I don't think there are polemics. What you try to ask here to them, they answer very well, so there are no polemics but I'm sure tomorrow you will write something."
Red Bull did not impose team orders last season, a decision that paid off when Vettel - behind Webber in the championship for most of the year - snatched the title from Alonso at the final race.
Had Vettel been asked to support Webber in earlier rounds, that shock title victory may not have been possible.
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