British GP 2011 - Silverstone

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Sure 747,

But I dont think its okay. Horner appears to be a PR Sh%^&storm, undoing alot of very good and hard work this squad do.
If he kept silent on Ferrari last year, I wouldnt say anything about this affair as I accept it as F1.

Anyway, thats me done on the matter.

[Gerhard Berger]

Exactly my thoughts 747. Seal the WDC which is also important for the team as well as the WCC. There is nothing to win being 2nd in WDC. 2nd is the first loser, nobody goes to a party saying "Hi, I came 2nd in the F1 WDC".... know what I mean?

David Coulthard does.

[Traction]

Exactly my thoughts 747. Seal the WDC which is also important for the team as well as the WCC. There is nothing to win being 2nd in WDC. 2nd is the first loser, nobody goes to a party saying "Hi, I came 2nd in the F1 WDC".... know what I mean?

David Coulthard does.

I would throw a party just to say I drove in ONE F1 race, even if I never finished1

[richard_leeds]

Maybe I'm a gullible fool, or perhaps I'm a pragmatist who instinctively sniggers at conspiracy theories.

I suspect Horner would have issued the same instruction if the drivers had been reversed. It wasn't about being a number 1 or 2 driver, it was a decision taken at the tail end of the race to bank the winnings for the team.

[Ray]

Horner could call Webber to overtake Vettel and say Vettel he shall no defend himself.
They have 2nd and 3rd place secure and Webber gains some more points.

So FOR ME that was a vettel favor.

But FOR ME, asking Vettel "Let Mark past" would be like Hockenheim last year with Alonso and Massa, and would have been a favor to Mark (like it was last year to Alonso)

Disagree. Vettel has an 80 point lead on Mark. Mark only has 12 points on Alonso and only 15 to the McLarens. If WB is right then he needs every point he can get since he's apparently a 'crasher'. So to help Mark beat Alonso, who has the ability to drive above his cars potential and did win this race, it only makes sense to swap positions (or let them race as they claim they do) to help them stay ahead of Alonso in the WDC. Doesn't matter if the Red Bull teammates swapped positions for the WCC because the points would be exactly the same and they would be helping Mark secure a 1&2 in the WDC by letting Webber legitimately race and pass Vettel, who he was clearly faster than in the closing laps. There isn't anything factual in what Christian Horner says, if he could call for Mark to hold off he could have easily told Vettel to let him past with absolutely no damage to the team. Mark needs those points to secure second for Red Bull and he could have easily earned them if he were allowed to, they weren't doing him a favor by asking Vettel to slow 2-3 or even 4 seconds a lap. He was on him like white on rice. For fracks sake Vettel could sit at home twiddling his thumbs for the next three races and Mark could win every one and he'd still be in the lead!

[raymondu999]

That's your opinion. I maintain mine. Thanks for sharing yours.

[Mandrake]

Disagree. Vettel has an 80 point lead on Mark. Mark only has 12 points on Alonso and only 15 to the McLarens.

Again, what's the point of getting Mark into WDC P2? At current points standings it's totally understandable to seal WDC with Vettel asap. Whatever happens to Webber is out of interest (WCC position matters of course). There is no extra money or extra fame for being 2nd in the WDC....so where's the point in letting Mark finish in front of Vettel?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Ok I couldnt resist, but......Whats the point in Red Bull, in F1 to expand its business interests through racing, winning with 5 or 6 races left?
The spectacle and its followers would diminish along with Red Bulls sizeable investment.

Im not saying take it to the edge of your seat last race scenario, but when Webber is really the only guy capable of mounting a serious challenge to Vettel, and his challenge is neutered, then you have to say Red Bull have scored an own goal somewhat in that the final races will just be show up events with no real global interest once the wunderkind has had his second title.

Why not let Webber past, Vettel still in the lead by 3 race victory margin and you garner more interest in the championship by havin TWO Red Bull drivers duking it out with 3 races left to go and them a country mile ahead of the oppostion.

Instead we now have pretty much official confirmation that Webber is rear gunner to Vettel, no matter what the situation. Detractors would say the situation is the same at Ferrari, but when has Massa pushed Alonso like Webber has since 2010?

[thatnoone]

so anyone here who thinks the situation between vettel & webber was the right call
would also agree with the Austria barichello - schumacher incident.. just askin

[raymondu999]

I don't condone either of them. I think in Silverstone there should have been "Ok Mark/Seb, you're racing, but keep it clean, and give each other room."

Austria was more like Hockenheim last year.

[richard_leeds]

so anyone here who thinks the situation between vettel & webber was the right call
would also agree with the Austria barichello - schumacher incident.. just askin

Are you referring to Barrichello being instructed to slow down to let Schumacher pass in both 2001 and 2002?

That's different to a team saying "let's call it a day and collect the points". Do remember this team nearly lost both WDC and WCC last year due to their drivers crashing into each other on several occasions.

[PNSD]

Several occasions? I remember Turkey but after that when was there?

I do agree that the Ferrari and RBR situations are completely different but certainly can not remember several occasions where RBR drivers risked the WDC and WCC by crashing into each other. A refresher would be nice .

[richard_leeds]

I can find 3 Webber-Vettel incidents in 2010:

1 - Turkey

2 - Britain - Vettel battled with Webber at the start, that caused him to go off track and led to a puncture as he struggled to hold of Hamilton.

3 - Hungary - Vettel took a penalty for not maintaining a consistent gap behind the safety car in order to gain advantage over Webber who was behind him.

Vettel crashed in Belgium against Button. OK, not an team crash, but a warning that desperate overtaking looses points.

Finally, Canada 2011 was a lesson that even pressurising a driver in variable track conditions can cause a driver to go off track. That supports the "maintain gap" decision.

[Gerhard Berger]

I don't condone either of them. I think in Silverstone there should have been "Ok Mark/Seb, you're racing, but keep it clean, and give each other room."

Austria was more like Hockenheim last year.

The championship siutation for the Ferrari drivers was completely different last year.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Richard

They were allowed to race, and they won both wdc and wcc.
And if your reasoning for silverstone is that they cut it too fine in 2010 due to the team racing one another, so they instilled a "no racing" policy would be fine if only for 1 glaring ommission....

Vettel lost alot more points due to reliability than anything to do with racing webber. And he has yet to finish out of the top 2 in 9 races?

Red Bull are taking things way too far, and it's really ringing true this business of Horner being paranoid about all and sundry.... He needs to take a leaf out whitmarsh book and let his boys race... Especially in such machinery as the RB7.