I don't think Seb will be going anywhere, at least until he loses a WDC. It would be really stupid of him to leave the best team/devlopers in f1 right now. Leaving Horner/Newey/Prodromou/Marshall would be the biggest 'doh' in f1 history at this point.

Webber hopefully will be gone this year. I still don't understand how he doesn't know he is a number two with his lack of consistent performance and a 3-time (current/consecutive) WDC as a teammate. He is really good 'when' he is on, the key word being "WHEN."

I Think RBR has a right to complain about Vettel's actions in sepang, but Webber's past actions really leave him no room to say anything whatsoever. Between supporting a non-RBR driver for WDC and trying to pull this same move on Vettel multiple times...yea - pot calling the kettle black.

On a side note it really sucks that Hamilton didn't take a year extension from McLaren. RBR vettel/hamilton would be looking really good for next year.

 

It's unfortunate Vettel didn't follow orders, but I think it's unfortunate (A) team orders were to put it in cruise control and (B) that Webber put both cars in jeopardy nearly as much as Vettel did, especially by pushing Seb into pit exit.

I tend to agree with the comments that Vettel was upholding the integrity of the sport. He's focused on racing and winning and that's partially why I'm a fan of his.

And I can't say I'm surprised by the disobedience either-- look at the times in 2012 his team was saying to conserve tires and Seb kept pushing, even setting fast lap on at least one occasion.

 

Little OT, but gotta send a shout out to Simona De Silvestro for qualifying in 3rd for the St. Pete Indy car race, then running third for most of the race and finishing 6th (ran out of tire at the end). Nice to see her in a good car for once.

l8r)

 

Integrity of the sport is more than just getting maximum point. There's no integrity being cutthroat to win.

 

*ick move on Vettel's part.

Thats really all I have to say about the entire race.

 

While I agree that there's more to the integrity of the sport than getting maximum points, I don't necessarily agree that Vettel's actions showed a lack of integrity. Seb is there to win another WDC, so is everyone else, therefore Vettel's pass on Webber does not compromise his integrity. The only part of the whole ordeal that left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth is Seb trying to apologize for it later. I certainly would not have, but that's just me, as I firmly believe in taking full responsibility for your own actions - which means understanding and accepting the consequences of your actions before you take said action. That, to me, is integrity and no apologies needed.

l8r)

 

Thing is, the "cutthroat" went both ways but nobody seems to be talking about that. Yes, Vettel tried to pass but Webber also ran Vettel into pit exit-- that's pretty cutthroat too, and that, too, was done in the attempt to win.

Red Bull got the same constructor points they would've gotten with a Webber win; Mercedes got the same constructor points they would've gotten with Rosberg in third. It's really disappointing two teams told their drivers to stop racing but the teams are, ultimately, about financial gain whereas the drivers are (or should be, like it's obvious Vettel is) about winning, as racing should be.

 

^ everyone knows webber has done shady things in the past, so it's no surprise that webber would pull that move. the team ordered both of them to turn down the engine and hold position. webber followed team order and turned down his engine, vettle didn't turn down his engine and make a pass on webber. yes the team still got the same amount of points in the end but the fact the they were fighting for position put both cars in jeopardy, from crashing into each other or tires going off and hami/nico would catch up.

Schumacher might be a 7 times world champ but there's still a lot of people who don't respect him because of the shady things he has done to win those WC. Vettle might be walking down the same path with the move he made on the last race. just my opinion.

 

Webber is just as shady, has demonstrated the same willingness to be super shady (the bs with Ferrari last year pissed me off) and is far less talented of a driver. Should Vettel have listened to the team orders to play it safe? Probably, but not for Webber's benefit, only to avoid further risk to the cars. That being said, if I was Vettel I would have said hell no and run the rest of the race the same way he did. He's a champion driver, and he is going to race his *** off, team orders or no. It didn't make me lose any respect for him.

 

Yep, and if we think back over the past few years, championships have been decided by less than a handful of points on several occasions. Those extra 7 points could mean the difference between WDC #4 or being first-loser to Vettel. We know Webber won't be in the championship hunt by year-end, so other than the issue of not following team orders (which Webber doesn't either), I don't see anything questionable about what Seb did.

l8r)

 

I don't mind a good race between teammates but when one turned down the engine and the other one didn't, doesn't seem like a fair fight to me. I'm not rooting for webber in anyway.

 

Everyone started on intermediates and the track was drying rapidly; that's why teams came in so early.

Smart for who? Certainly for RBR, who wanted to ensure their 1-2. Smart for Vettel? Less so. That 7 point swing could be rather vital down the road - he only won by 3 points last year, for example, and it's abundantly clear that there are going to be bad races due to tires.

If Vettel wins #4, nobody will give two ****s about him passing Webber, who still doesn't get that he's a #2 for a reason.


Aside, but I saw more than a few friends griping on FB about the race and the outcome. I see why, but the rules on tires, engines, and whatnot pretty much guarantees this is how F1 will be. Get in the lead and coast.

 

Holy Drama Batman! Now wasn't that an interested race?

I do have to agree with the above 2 comments. As a fan of a driver you want to see them battling out to the last lap. As a fan of a team, you want the team to do well and for the drivers to stop screwing around. So it goes both ways, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

To those defending "Finger boy", here is why he doesn't have integrity, IMHO. Now that team orders "officially" exist in F1, drivers and teams have pre-race meeting playing out various scenarios of whats going to happen during the closing laps of the race.

Obviously both drivers agreed to different scenarios in good faith. Thus Mark, lowering his settings as it came to the closing laps based on pre-agreed upon scenarios. Vettel didn't, although he agreed to the same conditions during the meeting. Isn't that the opposite of integrity? That is cut throat.

If Mark hadn't gone into cruise control there is very little chance Vettel would have caught him. Thus Mark would've won the Malaysian GP but Vettel took advantage of the fact that his team mate went into cruise control based on pre agreed pre race discussions. Cheap shot!

Did anyone notice Vettel was boo'ed at the last race in Australia?

 

^ c'mon do you really think they both agreed to just putz along whenever ordered to do so? MW has continually displayed a complete lack of respect for team orders. We've had several prime examples of this over the past couple of years. I also don't think it's a foregone conclusion that MW was going to win, as SV had kept his best set of tires for his last stint.

l8r)

 

^ Yes, actually I do. They both work for RedBull (who writes their paychecks), not the other way around. Is there a chance Vettel would've caught Weber? Sure although a slim one, but passing him would've been a different story and they'ld probably destroy their tires making them prey to the Mercs ....

Either way team harmony is destoryed @ RedBull and I wonder if Weber may retaliate in the future by taking "both" cars out. Either way it will be interesting to watch. (Grabs the pop corn)