Damon Hill: Red Bull team order argument is right but F1 drivers should race each other – Formula 1
Former Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill has stated that although Red Bull team orders in the Silverstone Grand Prix of the 2011 season were justified by Christian Horner still the drivers need to race each other and that is what fans turn in to watch.
Hill added that it could have been bad if Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber crashed into each other in the Silverstone Grand Prix but their fight was an interesting one and Red Bull ordering the Aussie to slow down was a disappointment for the fans.
He added that although the team principal has the right to make these types of calls in the race, he thinks drivers should be left on their own to decide about their race strategy.
“As the rules stand, (team bosses) have to make those calls, but I think it could be adapted so that there could be no recrimination to the team or the team principal for not instructing his drivers one way or another, because it's understood that the drivers
are entitled to race each other - and really at the end of the day, that's what people buy their tickets for,” commented Hill.
The former British driver also added, “It would have been very sad if it had ended up in a collision between Sebastian and Mark, but I have to speak up for drivers.”
In the Silverstone Grand Prix, Red Bull ordered Webber to maintain the gap from Vettel so that a crash could be avoided. Although McLaren’s test driver Pedro de la Rosa stated that it was to protect Vettel’s lead in the 2011 championship still Webber had
to pull out from an interesting battle which could have seen him in second place.
Ferrari were accused of team orders in the 2010 Formula 1 season when they ordered Felipe Massa to slow down for Fernando Alonso in the German Grand Prix and it will be interesting to see how Red Bull are treated by the Maranello-based outfit.
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