Following yesterday’s incident when Mark Webber had the better Red Bull front wing taken off his car and given to his teammate, speculation has arisen as to whether the Aussie will stay at the Austrian team next season.
Webber had signed a contract earlier in the year to stay with Red Bull for 2011, but following today’s British Grand Prix, he admitted he will be discussing his future with the team, adding: “I would never have signed a contract for next year if I knew that this was the way it was going.”
At the start of the season Red Bull were the laid back team, the team which were happy, and as long as one driver took the chequered flag with the other close behind, it didn’t really matter.
However, things started going sour at the Milton Keynes-based team at the Turkish Grand Prix. Mark Webber was on a roll of 3 pole positions and 2 wins, and he was on course for a third when Sebastian Vettel came up alongside his teammate and squeezed him, causing Red Bull to lose the win.
The Red Bull management including Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko proceeded to try and defend the indefensible, and claim it was Mark Webber’s fault, when it was clearly Vettel’s. A poll on this site found that 1,594 people thought it was Vettel’s fault, whereas only 205 people thought it was Webber’s.
The whispers about driver favouritism started, and things were never quite the same again at the team. Red Bull hurried to publish press releases making out that everything was back as it was before the Grand Prix and that there was no driver favouritism. Sadly they were just sticking a plaster on a broken leg, and Webber’s relationship with Vettel and crucially the Red Bull management was terminally damaged.
Things quietened down on the driver bias front until yesterday after qualifying for the British Grand Prix in which Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole. It emerged that Mark Webber had his upgraded front wing taken off his car and given to Vettel, as the latter’s had fallen off due to a car fault in third practice.
This was essentially a public admission that Sebastian Vettel was Red Bull’s favoured driver, and this time they made no move whatsoever to deny it. Webber won the Grand Prix, but it was clear the relationship at the team was pretty much irreparable.
Mark Webber has a contract for next year, but if I’m honest, I can’t see him going the distance. There are options elsewhere, and I think that Vitaly Petrov’s seat at Renault, or even Nico Hulkenberg‘s at Webber’s former team Williams could be his should he leave Red Bull.
I think that, like today, Webber will be as determined as ever, and that this will only spur him on to try even harder to beat his teammate. His celebrations after the win were some of the most passionate I’ve ever seen, and he will be trying as hard as ever.
What do you think Mark should do? Leave a comment with your thoughts!
No. He shouldn’t stay, Red Bull should get rid of him. He has behaved very unprofessional, he could have won and done great but he rubbed it in RBR’s face, the team that has given him all this race victories.
Hopefully he’ll choose to leave and he won’t have anywhere to go.
Mark Webber did win! He’s won more GPs than Sebastian Vettel this season! I fail to see how it is he who has done wrong…
I think SH might be Christian Horner, lol.
I think Mark will stay and hopefully batter Vettel and stick it to the management. They’re treating him like an idiot, hopefully he’ll find another team with a quick car in 2011.
Red Bull are just putting more pressure on Vettel by doing all this. He can beat Webber fair and square and it’s just silly what they are doing.
I think Webber will end up going for the title with Hamilton.
There’s certainly a new Webber bandwagon going on though that’s for sure.
Did anyone else pick up on Horner’s tone while he was ‘congratulating’ Webber over the radio? He almost seemed disappointed to be forced to say “well done”.
While I don’t think Mark should stay in a team where his skill isn’t valued, it’s frustrating to think that possible options for season ’11 are Renault or Williams, since after such a long string of second-rate teams, he’s finally ended up in the fastest car of the pack, and doesn’t deserve to be going backwards.
All respect to Renault and Williams, but if I were Mark I would be either slapping Mr Horner over the face and demanding a bit of hard-earned respect (remember guys, he’s been with RBR since their inception), or moving on to an equally fast car.
Also I don’t think it’s fair to blame Horner. I think there are bigger Red Bull bosses up there that are the one’s pushing for Sebastian to win.
At the end of the day the big bosses want to sell can’s of Red Bull. Having an old Australian driver who’s fans isn’t what the want of course, even though the guys in the garage would.
Look at Alguersuari (No offence to Jaime, I’m a big fan and he is a good driver) Did he set the world alight in GP2? No, did he win World Series to get his drive? No. Is he a young, good looking, music making DJ? Yes.
Tommy, I think it’s got less to do with selling cans of sugar than it does with the fact that Webber is heading towards the end of his career, and Vettel is at the beginning of it.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who is a better investment at this point.
As far as sponsors are concerned, it’s about product placement, which means having both cars up front (or at least on the track!) for as long as possible, although I am aware that Deitrich whatzisface has a childish liking of Vettel.
The problem is that the team has two drivers that are both extremely talented and competitive, and both believe they should be the ‘lead’ driver of the team. You can say what you want in a press release, but at the end of the day people will see through to what is really happening.
Remembering the way that Vettel was treated after his snap incident in Turkey, and the decision to give him Webber’s wing, and adding to that, the begrudging tone of Horner as he merely went through the motions in congratulating Webber, it is becoming more and more obvious that the team is favouring one driver, despite what they may say to the cameras.
And about not blaming Horner? He’s the team boss. Whether or not any of this was his call, as the team boss it’s his responsibility to inspire his team to the point where they are working together cohesively, and he’s falling well short of that mark right about now.
Great, great article Jack.
I hadn’t even considered Renault as a possible get out clause but it could be done. Even if Web stays another year, Mas is meant to be on a year on year basis (although annouced as a two year deal) so maybe he could go there.
Is there favouritism? Not overtly but they’d certainly prefer Seb to win. Should Mark leave? Yes, because he clearly feels he’s bveing forced into a num,ber 2 role and he will not be able to tolerate that and nor should he have to.
Things may not be as bad as the media likes to make out but the fact is, RBR are managing this horrifically and they have a seriously unhappy and insecure driver and ironically enough, that’s the one leading their title charge. Funny how F1 works out sometimes.
Great post!
There is a degree of “favouriteism” but, like Steph said, the media is making a mountain out of a molehill.
Webber should leave at the end of the season. To where? Who knows, he won’t be around for much longer though. I sense RBR’s season, internally, will get worse…
As a Vettel fan I find this all very awkward. Red Bull have handled the whole situation appallingly and Webber has only made it worse by voicing his grievances in front of the world’s media. If he has an issue with a team decision he should discuss it with his team in private. Instead he is just fuelling the media who I agree are making a mountain out of (something maybe only slightly bigger!) than a molehill.
I think Webber should leave. Renault is a good option although if he’s not happy to play 2nd fiddle to Vettel then he won’t like being Kubica’s number 2 either. It’s a tough call – stay with Red Bull where you can challenge for the championship but put up with unfair treatment, or go play the lead role at a less competitive team.
I would like to see Vettel win the championship but by his own merit. He is fast enough to win without handouts from Horner that are only going to discredit any of his achievements.
I personally think if the team let him down like that then yes I think massa and webber should swap seats its win win for the drivers massa has a more competitive car and allows webber to leave red bull for somewhere where his drives will be more appreciated
RBR should just get rid of Webber and get Kimi for his seat in 2011! Come on! All I can say is the RBR06 is a winner not Webber nor Vettel! You can put Sutil or Kubica or Shcumacher on the RBR06 and they could still win the races like today RBR did.
All RBR needed now is drivers who act like a TEAM! Not fighting each other over some issue, pushing your team-mate on the gravel… and lost the 1-2 finish! How many RBR 1-2 finished are gone? Perhaps at least 3 in Turkish GP, European GP and British GP!
Just ditch Webber if he cant beat Vettel in the remaining of the season. RBR could still survive without Webber and perhaps he can return to his old team, Williams to replace Barichello in the next season!
If Webber wanna prove he is capable…… why didnt he perform years before this? And what’s inside Vettel’s pocket is he won a Grand Prix with Toro Rosso in 2008 and he out-performed RBR in that year! And fight for the championship with Button & Barichello in 2009!
In the end Webber could end up like Massa in 2008! Before and after that golden year, they wasnt shining anymore! So just accept that yourself being treated as second driver!
MW has been the epitomy of diplomacy write up until Silverstone HE has tried to keep this team together
He is gentleman, totallly honest and up front
It easy to see that Vettel is a brat. A weak non entity
This is all about German/Austrian obsession with the automobile Cars, fast cars are a way of life in these countries, it is important for a German to be on top, simple
It is unbelievable, even my German friends are losing faith in V
Look at the easy relationship MW has with his peers, Jenson, Louis and Alonso, the respect and like him
Thye sure as hell do not like the brat
Actualyl I’m kind of glad Webber has gone to the media and not just because it gives us something to talk about. Mark’s a wily old fox, he knows how to play things. With the media watching RBR will have to be very careful as they need their huge fan base as they’re essentially there to sell a product. Not only that, but I don’t see why Mark should keep his mouth shut. He should put as much pressure on he can to get what he wants, the title is at stake and it doesn’t sound like any private reassurances from the team will ease the concerns in his mind. He has to be out for himself now.
It’s like a relationship when the trust is gone all you get is stress, nagging and a massive migraine. It’s a struggle to get it back and near impossible to get it back to the levels it once was. Best he can do now is nail that title.
Stay with Red Bull & snatch the crown from your team mate.
i couldnt personally agree more with wasif1…webber should stay if he still wants to win the championship, and prove his skills, rather than going on to a less competitive team for 2011.
Whether Mark Webber stays – or should stay – with RB will depend on those higher up the chain than Christian Horner.
While Christian can be justly criticized, we’ve all worked under stupid bosses who couldn’t find their butt with both hands and a flashlight – and most just endure because there is often little option but to do so. Not Webber! Indeed, but men of conviction are few and far between today.
Vettel is a candidate for great success in F1, but if RB’s incompetent management keep coddling him, he’ll eventually become just another, might-have-been. Much like his patron, Helmut Marko, who’s credentials to be in such a position are just about as wanting as his performance is flawed.
I’m not sure that Red Bull have actually been playing favourites. I seem to recall that it was only Helmut Marko that blamed Webber for the crash in Turkey and he later retracted his comments (although that’s not going to make anybody feel better). I think that incident unsettled the team and the “Wing Incident” was a result of this. I think it was the wrong decision to remove the wing from Webber’s car but the bigger problem seems to be have been that the reasoning wasn’t explained to him. Williams have an open system where if there is one update available the driver leading in the points gets it. If Red Bull had announced something similar at the start of the season this would have never been an issue!
For anyone questioning MW’s talent – look deeper than what the ‘statistics’ tell you. He’s well known for having the worst luck in the recent years of the sport, and his teams haven’t been particularly strong moves either: Minardi, Jaguar, Williams (at the beginning of the downhill landslide), and now finally in a Red Bull team that he has worked with for years to help move from a ‘best of the rest’ team to the fastest car on the circuit.
Webber was constantly punching above his weight with his cars, and you can see this with his qualifying displays – however the inherent problem in being in underfunded teams is that eventually their cars break. Clutch/brake/engine failures etc.
It’s also worth mentioning that his loyalty has played to his disadvantage, since after a less than impressive run at Williams, MW rejected an offer from friend Flavio Briatore to join the revived Renault team (the car that took Alonso to two driver’s championships) because he wanted to make it work with Williams. And it never did.
You have to feel for the guy, after going through all this, he finally works with a team for a decent amount of time, and helps to develop a strong team with a strong car and finally posts strong qualifying times and strong race results, only to have the younger, more prodigal Vettel take priority.
I’d be frustrated too.