Everyone deciding to have their say on Red Bull
The talk of Formula One is the team war happening at Red Bull, and while as they face something a personnel crisis, it seems everyone in the paddock is offering some friendly advice on the issue.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has a tough job on his hands managing Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber after the weekend’s events.
The team arrived at the British Grand Prix with only two newly-designed front wings, and when Vettel broke his in practice, he was given the one that was on Webber’s car. This led Webber to believe he was the second driver within the team, suggesting favouritism towards Vettel. Webber went on to win at Silverstone, and crossed the finish line saying on his team radio: “Not a bad job for a No.2 driver.”
The battle though had begun in Turkey when the drivers collided with one another while jostling for the lead, handing the race win to McLaren and Horner has said that he will hold talks with Webber later this week to establish the problems that Red Bull face.
While they will hold talks, the likes of McLaren have decided to stir the pot. Team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes Red Bull’s problems will aid his drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
“We have to concentrate on our situation. A lot of people speculated on the relationship between our two drivers, and the fact is it hasn't been a news story yet, although people tried to make it one. I hope there are cracks and divisions in all our competitors and they all fall apart, but I am not going to rely on it. We have to make our car quicker and try and win the championships that way,” he said.
“You have to think carefully about decisions. Drivers are immensely competitive people, so if they perceive something is not even-handed or fair, then you are going to have some trouble. There is always a potential tension with two drivers in the same team fighting for a championship.”
Whitmarsh was the understudy to Ron Dennis at McLaren when Fernando Alonso and Hamilton were at each other’s throats in 2007, and has an idea of what Horner is feeling.
“We've experienced that a few times, it's difficult, but I have to say that so far I think we are in reasonable shape in that regard. But I think if your drivers aren't working together then it is one more distraction you could do without."
Much was made about the good relationship Button and Hamilton have, and while Horner and Webber said in the build-up to last weekend’s race that one day the two Britons would crack, ironically it was Webber and Vettel who suffered.
Reigning world champion Button feels he and Hamilton are showing the way teammates should operate. “I think everyone's been taking the mick out of us that we get on well as teammates and as a team, but it's what works for us. We are hungry for success and for winning. We wouldn't have become world champions if we weren't hungry for that. But we get on well at the moment. That might not always be the case, but we are going to try and keep it that way. I think it keeps a very good environment within the team, and it pushes everyone here really hard,” Button said.
The 30-year-old insists the whole team is behind the two drivers and united as a team. “Both sides of the garage work for us, and although they obviously want our car to beat the other car, you don't get this split garage. It seems in some teams you want to put a wall up in the middle, but we share information, and that is so important. They [Red Bull] have a very different situation. It might work for them, it might not, but our situation is the best I've experienced in Formula One.”
Hamilton leads by 12 points over Button at the top of the drivers’ standings, and he feels the best team to be driving for right now is McLaren. “It's really awesome, the best I have ever seen it, and myself and Jenson add to that,” he said.
"If there was a rift between us it would divide the sides, and we don't have that. It's a real team. We work together. No one is blinding anyone, there's no holding anything back or hiding anything. It's just a case of 'let's go out there, put these two cars on the front row and win this race,' and that's awesome,” Hamilton added.
Mercedes-Benz GP chief executive officer Nick Fry sympathises with Red Bull but is glad to see them squabbling. “I do sympathise on the one hand with them. But one of the main points is to stop shooting yourself in the foot. Just looking at it from the outside, there seems to be a case of Red Bull causing more problems than they need to,” he said.
Fry believes Red Bull are in danger of throwing both championships away, even if they have the fastest car on the grid.
“They are beating themselves - which is very satisfying for the rest of us but it should not be what they are up to. I don't know what is going on inside the team, but clearly they need a good discussion between drivers and the three levels of team management - because there is the technical side, the team management and the Red Bull side. They have got to work out how to rectify their issues,” he said.
Maybe Horner should be listening to the advice.
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