2010 F1 Season

[Ashy Larry]

See I watch that vid, see how Webber has been tied up with Horner in GP3, how he drove for RBR before Vettel...i cant see them having a bad relationship if Horner was given free reign of the team...i cant help but think Webber knows Horner is up the middle, but Horner has bosses to answer to as well remembering that Horner tried to go it alone by buying Jordan all those years ago but didnt have the budget and only got the call from Red Bull when they took over Jaguar because he had been looking after Red Bull dirvers in Junior categories (i think it was Luiszzi and Dornboos). So Horner is 100% in the pocket of Red Bull as a company, not Red Bull Racing as a racing team.

But, yes, imteresting times ahead. If Webber can get up in Germany and those damn Ferraris finally pull a few points of the Macs then will be interesting to see if RBR implode under the pressure of trying to sculpt history. Personally the more i read about Marko the more he seems to be a destructive force in many things he touches by having to control people and have things only done his way to his liking

Agree !00%

[sh@un]

just a bit disappointed button couldnt challange rosberg for that final podium place

but he did really, really well to get there at all. I can't remember how many places he made up on the start, but he seems to have passed a whole heap of the front runners during their later tyre stops after his early pit, no doubt aided by the field bunching up under the safety car. Jense doing what he does best; churning out decent times like a metronome, while still looking after the tyres. great race pace despite the poor showing in qualy.

the on track scraps were great. this track kills all these new tilke bore-o-dromes

damn straight

will be interesting to see if RBR implode under the pressure of trying to sculpt history.

it's a moot point anyway, because uncle Ron's team will be taking both titles this year. bet the house on it!

[wolverine]

from the press conference

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Mark, what about that with the wing? The wing that you ran today, was that the wing that was in dispute yesterday and should that sort of thing happen?

MW: No, I don’t think it should. Obviously I wasn’t massively in favour of the decision but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But once the car’s in parc ferme, obviously that’s the car you race with from qualifying, so I obviously raced today with the same car that I qualified which, it must be said, still it wasn’t too bad. But some of the drivers offered me some front wings from their cars on the (drivers’) parade lap but I said I would stick with what I’ve got. Seb didn’t but some of the other guys tried to offer me a front wing.

[God_speed]

from the press conference

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Mark, what about that with the wing? The wing that you ran today, was that the wing that was in dispute yesterday and should that sort of thing happen?

MW: No, I don't think it should. Obviously I wasn't massively in favour of the decision but that's the way it goes sometimes. But once the car's in parc ferme, obviously that's the car you race with from qualifying, so I obviously raced today with the same car that I qualified which, it must be said, still it wasn't too bad. But some of the drivers offered me some front wings from their cars on the (drivers') parade lap but I said I would stick with what I've got. Seb didn't but some of the other guys tried to offer me a front wing.

Slightly strange...

Can anyone post up / link to an exact quote of what was said between Webber and (Horner) after the race? Obviously I got the "number 2 driver" part, but I'm more interested in the part where he apparently said he wouldn't have signed the contract if he knew what would have happened on Sat.

Edit: Never mind, found it.

[CeJay]

I can understand Mark being annoyed but I can understand RBR's point of view as well. Really instead of saying we don't play favourites, it might of been better to say we will put the driver with the most points first. It seems like if anything RBR could of handled the whole front wing thing better.

[FineLine]

Well done Mark. Give it to that horrid little cane toad as much as you can.

I cant help but feel that Mark is twisting these tools around his little finger. His formula one history is one of bad luck, bad decisions and adversity. Through all this he continues to get better every time he drives.

The harder they make it for him the better he likes it to the point where i reckon he will continue to stir the pot simply because he is the most dominant rooster in that outfit and can handle the redbullshit better than those around him.

Short of out and out in team sabotage i cant see tool getting on top of him for this season at least.

GO WEBZ!!!

[sh@un]

What do they say?- The best revenge is to live successfully

[Snowman]

I can understand Mark being annoyed but I can understand RBR's point of view as well. Really instead of saying we don't play favourites, it might of been better to say we will put the driver with the most points first.

Exactly. I think as a Nation we are all being far too sensitive here. Giving Vettel the wing was the right thing to do from a team / championship point of view and after his effort last start Webber didn't deserve it anyways. If he hadn't have gone from 2nd on the grid to ninth to the back of Hekki's car all in a few laps at Valencia I'm sure he'd have had his new wing at Silverstone.

Good on him for getting the job done on the weekend (as I can't stand Vettel anyways) but at the same time people need to toughen up to these decision - or better yet be in a position to earn them.

[PHaT MR30]

Im kinda confused, they were at their home track within a stones throw of their factory and they couldn't produce more than two examples of said wing?

Im no expert on the manufacturing process they go through, but I would have though if they planned to run the wing for the race they would have atleast 1 spare if not more?

[Targa Tom]

Im kinda confused, they were at their home track within a stones throw of their factory and they couldn't produce more than two examples of said wing?

Im no expert on the manufacturing process they go through, but I would have though if they planned to run the wing for the race they would have atleast 1 spare if not more?

1000s of man hrs in those elements Tim...

[Targa Tom]

The best thing is....Webber leads Vettel in the WDC so puts even more pressure on RBR management when they look for the excuse book for why Vettel should be given any advantage, even down to pit stop strategy and quali order.

I am not confident Webber will be able to ride out this storm if he wants to publicly fight management...but will be fun watching I am emailing my mate from Budapest who is working in Ireland...he needs to show me the ropes and will hopefully have a wing man for Hungarian GP or Belgium. Now where do i buy an Aussie flag from

Flag right here shags

TT

[Angus Smart]

There seems to be more mateship between Mark, Homo and Button than anything he has with his team or its members.

Thats caus Homo seems to help him out from time to time. hamo prob asked webs if he liked what he did for him

[handbrake]

Exactly. I think as a Nation we are all being far too sensitive here. Giving Vettel the wing was the right thing to do from a team / championship point of view and after his effort last start Webber didn't deserve it anyways. If he hadn't have gone from 2nd on the grid to ninth to the back of Hekki's car all in a few laps at Valencia I'm sure he'd have had his new wing at Silverstone.

Good on him for getting the job done on the weekend (as I can't stand Vettel anyways) but at the same time people need to toughen up to these decision - or better yet be in a position to earn them.

I see your point snowy but I reckon everyone is sensitive as webber really does stand a chance at winning the title. If vettel had an insurmountable lead over webber then I could understand the team decision better, however it is not the case. Vettel is not a clear winner out of these two so therefore in the spirit of racing both deserve all the support the RBR team can manage.

[scarface_au]

I see your point snowy but I reckon everyone is sensitive as webber really does stand a chance at winning the title. If vettel had an insurmountable lead over webber then I could understand the team decision better, however it is not the case. Vettel is not a clear winner out of these two so therefore in the spirit of racing both deserve all the support the RBR team can manage.

The simple fact is RBR are clearly favouring Vettel. Reading between the lines from various things Mark has said (which isn't that hard with Mark), he believes it, and he would know. Horner's denials of favouritism have been weak to say the least.

But RBR have picked their driver to back prematurely. Webber has shown in the last 12 months that he is quite capable of winning races, and IIRC he's been above Vettel in the championship more than he has been below. Given decent equipment Mark can definitely get the job done. It's to his credit that he's been able to pull out such good performances despite the fact that the team is mostly there for Vettel's benefit.

If RBR are smart they'll start patching things up with Mark quick smart. If they piss him off too much he may decide to take his bat and ball and go home rather than continue putting up with the crap, although I think this is unlikely as he's shown he's mature enough to get the job done even with an unsupportive team. However if he continues to see Vettel and the rest of the team as his enemy we are likely to see a repeat of the sphincter of the universe. I was worried that would happen last night but credit to Mark, he held his nerve and Vettel lost his.

RBR have to realise that Mark is not a "number two" driver, he's a championship contender in his own right, and they should back him accordingly.

I am wondering though if this situation could be helping Mark in a way. Some people, when they feel everyone is against them, fire up and do their best work, just to "show them". I'm not saying a bit more support wouldn't be a good thing, but I think Mark enjoys being the underdog (typical Aussie).

[PHaT MR30]

Love this quote

''Martin Brundle came on the television and said watch out for some fun at the first corner and Mark looked up and said: ''You bet there will be some fun at the first corner''

[God_speed]

Webber's mechanics wave wing at Vettel's engineers

Can't help but chuckle and yet be a bit concerned at the same time - this team's gonna implode big time

[God_speed]

If RBR are smart they'll start patching things up with Mark quick smart. If they piss him off too much he may decide to take his bat and ball and go home rather than continue putting up with the crap, although I think this is unlikely as he's shown he's mature enough to get the job done even with an unsupportive team. However if he continues to see Vettel and the rest of the team as his enemy we are likely to see a repeat of the sphincter of the universe. I was worried that would happen last night but credit to Mark, he held his nerve and Vettel lost his.

I agree that Vettel has lost some nerve and I think he'll definitely think twice before squeezing Mark again. If so, it only took, what, two major incidents that both resulted in a significant disadvantage to him, before he realises that he can't boss MW around.

As for RBR, I'm not so sure they would allow themselves to be "pushed around" by Mark, nor would they be all that concerned to see MW go, if he were ever to throw down an ultimatum. It's clear where Dietrich and Marko et al have invested their time and money and it would actually solve a few "problems" for them if MW were to abandon the team, sadly. At least, that's the way it looks to me.

If MW is to win the WDC, or even at least beat Vettel in the 2010 standings at the end of Abu Dhabi, that'll be a damn good outcome. At the very least though he's won at Monaco and more than that, shown he is at least the equal of the golden child on the track while being far superior to him (and his own team) off it.

Also looking forward to buying Webber's autobiography

[Roy]

Yeh I think its clear that Red Bull Racing do not like what Red Bull the drink manufacturer management are doing within the team!!! Red Bull are going to do a 2007 McLaren and lose both championships....

The scary thing is I can see Webber being shown the door before seasons end if he continues to fight the system I cant believe that Horner, Newey and the guys actually in the team, (not consultants to the team) are the ones pulling the strings.

Everyone has bosses and I think that means the whole team is under pressure. One thing for sure, Webber best tread carefully. If Berger as part owner of STR can be forced out and Speed, Liuzzi, Bourdais feel the burn ... I don't think a contract means much if Webber wants to say too much publicly and Red Bull/Mateschitz feel Vettel is only losing points to a team mate in the Championship and its time to blood Buemi in a competitive car.

I can see it happening.... and as a bunch of employees i dont see Horner, Newey or anyone else able to stop it. I would love to buy DC a beer and hear his side of things and wonder if his McLaren experience has him giving Webber some advice on the side??? He has seemed to be pretty flattering of Mark this year in his comments

[God_speed]

I can see it happening.... and as a bunch of employees i dont see Horner, Newey or anyone else able to stop it. I would love to buy DC a beer and hear his side of things and wonder if his McLaren experience has him giving Webber some advice on the side??? He has seemed to be pretty flattering of Mark this year in his comments

Yeah - the whole situation has been a real downer on what has otherwise been a cracking season so far. The controversy is 'good' for the sport (it's made front-'page' SMH for crying out loud!) but I don't see a lot of light at the end of MW's tunnel when the true-blue Aussie outspoken attitude is both a virtue and a vice in many ways.

Would be awesome to hear DC's thoughts.

Meanwhile ^^^^ if SMH's sources are to be believed, the 'wing-waving' indicates a definite rift inside the garage too (between the two drivers' engineers/mechanics), not just between RBR and RB head office. Will be watching Joe Saward's and James Allen's blogs carefully over the next few weeks...

[Roy]

Reading Horners comments last night I think he is helping to put things into perspective and is throwing support behind Mark, and commenting that he wont be going anywhere....we need each other sort of thing and he knows the history of the team after 4 seasons etc etc. Which makes sense and only flames my concern that this whole issue is more a Reb Bull Drink company imposing its will on a Racing Team they sponsor, which nobody in the team likes. Probably Vettel himself is uncomfortable with the whole thing