In Malaysia there were two instances where team orders effected the results of the race. For Mercedes, it was not letting Rosberg pass Hamilton. This was definately an uncalled for decision. Rosberg has been with the team longer, he got them their only race win, and kept them afloat in P5 last year which is worth millions. Regardless of who is a better driver or who makes more, the fact is that Rosberg has priority as of now. Even if that isn't factored in, Rosberg was just plain faster, so he could have caught up to the Red Bulls and gained even more points for the team. Plus, passing was not an issue, he could have cleanly taken him in one of the DRS zones, and been on his way within a lap.
The Red Bull team orders were a bit more complex. The charging Vettel, approached his cruising teammate Webber, who was conserving and had turned his engine down. The team, apparently instructed Vettel to basically just keep his position. Vettel eventually passed Webber, who then gave Vettel the finger. Webbern was angry and confused, and then later told Vettel off later yelling at him "Multi 21". Anyways, Webber is now apparently considering moving to another team. That is both a good and bad idea for him, because as long as he is at Red Bull, it is basically impossible for him to become champion because the team is backing Vettel. However, if he moves down, the nearest teams that would possibly give him a spot are Sauber and F.I, neither of which are going to win a championship anytime soon. Unless Massa leaves Ferrari or is thrown out, then he would have a chance.
From Vettel's perspective, he felt entitled to the win. He has outscored Webber every single year he's been at the team and won 3 world championships in a row. This was evident before, when, if anything annoyed him, he would call on his team to go fix it. Like Hamilton not moving out of the way when Vettel lapped him last year. I think Vettel feels like Red Bull is his team, he brought them to the top, and therefore they owe it to him to give him the right of way. Schumacher did the same for both Ferrari and Benetton, however, he made his team respect him and most of the time listened to them. Truth is, drivers are merely employees, then can't fire anyone, and they can be fired in an instant. Vettel needs to remember that. That's the difference between him and Schumacher in that respect, Vettel feels like the team owes him, and Schumacher felt like he owed the team. It's important, as a driver to remember those who make your wins possible, and to listen to them when they tell you something.
The reasoning for Merc was that they *couldn't* catch up with the Bulls no matter what; they had nothing to gain and everything to lose from an intra team battle. Even if Nico was faster, the risk was in not being able to finish the race because he used up the fuel tussling with Lewis.
ReplyDeleteI think one should pay attention on how eager Webber is to take orders and the fact that Webber was clearly slower in the middle of the race than Vettel and forming a queue behind him. Back to the "saint" Webber. He got four (4) orders, team orders, to back down from trying to pass Vettel in Silverstone last year and explained it with race driving and competition. So who is he now blaming Vettel or who is anyone to blame Vettel now? The difference between Silverstone 2012 and Sepang 2013 is that in other the one breaking team order managed to pass and the other did not. In both events Vettel stood victorious. Oh. And that wasn't the only time Webber broke team order.
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