Red Bull Management faces an uphill tast after Turkey
Red Bull team will be facing a crucial and testing time in the coming weeks. Red Bull’s boss Christian Horner will arguably face the most difficult time of his tenure in the coming weeks as a result of the dreadful Turkish grand prix. Horner will have to initiate a “public relation” campaign to deal with the after effects of the Istanbul fiasco.
Red Bull’s driver Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber collided with each other on lap 40 when Vettel attempted to over take his team mate on Turn 12. As a result Vettel was retired and Red Bull lost a near certain one-two finish. In the aftermath of this race, Red Bull drivers have blamed each other for the debacle. Meanwhile Red Bull boss has blamed both, although slightly favouring the German Vettel. Even prior to Turkish grand prix, there were rumours of the split in Red Bull‘s camp. And with the subsequent event of Sunday, the divide is all evident. Adding fuel to the fire, Helmut Marko who is aid of team owner and energy drinks tycoon Dietrich Mateschitz has blamed Webber for collision. Current scenario is a stark contrast from two weeks ago when red bull appeared unstoppable after their second consecutive one-two finish in Monaco Monte Carlo. Christian Horner has an uphill task of uniting the team and finishing the apparent rift so that it won’t affect Red Bull’s championship aspirations. “Its one we will have to manage. They are both grown ups, they need to both look at it objectively, and we need to move on from here”, said Horner. Horner will now have time of two week to put house in order before heading to Montreal for Canadian Grand Prix.
Talking to reporters Horner categorically denied news of any Anglo-Austrian divide in the team. Wary of McLaren’s threat, Horner needs to bring his team back together and focus on upcoming races. McLaren chief engineer, Tim Goss has also added further pressure on Horner and his team by accusing them of throwing easy one-two. Goss may feel that rich experience of his drivers who are both former world champions came handy when they appeared in a similar situation. Hamilton and current champion Button also came side by side in a furious battle to take lead on lap 50 but avoided any misfortune. Goss believed that McLaren has a more than a chance to seize the championship as Red Bull team is divided internally. Another problem that would require Horner’s attention is conditions of Red Bull’s engine. Earlier in the season, Milton Keynes based team suffered engine failure with Vettel. Another engine failure and Christian Horner may potentially run out of engines this season.
Meanwhile, Webber and Vettel feud intensified as both blame each other for the collision. Webber blamed speed of Vettel as the main reason for collision. “I wasn’t all expecting that at the point, and that’s why it happened so fast and there was contact. But I am pretty confident there was some drift from his way and then it was a disaster,” the Australian said. However, the subsequent reactions of Vettel, after the collisions suggests that the German has something opposite in his mind. Just after the collision Vettel twice twirled his right index finger around his temple while he was climbing out apparently suggesting what happened was completely crazy. “I was on the inside going into the corner. I was there, ahead and focusing on the breaking point and then we touched. What happened was very silly among team mates. As a team-mate you should give each other some room”, the German Vettel said.
It is undoubtedly frustrating for team to get only 15 points in a race in which they could easily have got 43 points. For Sebastian Vettel, it is a personal disappointment as he started the Turkish Grand Prix levelled with Webber on top spot in Driver’s championship and ended the race with overall fifth and 15 points behind Webber. Christian Horner will now have to focus on uniting the team back so that they could overcome problems together and focus on championship ahead of Canadian Grand Prix.
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