Red Bull does not play by Ferrari’s rules – Dietrich Mateschitz
Red Bull dominated the Brazilian Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel won the race comfortably with teammate Mark Webber following him in 2nd place. The team was able to secure maximum points after their 5th 1-2 finish of the season and as
a result, Red Bull won the constructors’ title. One has to wonder though, how were they able to do it in just 6 years in the sport and no driver preference?
The team’s co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz clearly stated that Red Bull prefers to lose the drivers’ title to Ferrari rather than initiate team orders and enable one of its drivers to win the title from Fernando Alonso. Ferrari is the master of team orders
even if the situation doesn’t call for it. Just like the incident at the Austrian Grand Prix in 2001 where Rubens Barrichello let Michael Schumacher pass for 2nd place just so that he could increase his lead and win the drivers title even though
the season was just half way through.
This is the main reason why Ferrari has always been considered as the race fixers of Formula 1 as they are quite unprofessional to prefer just one driver in the season. Similar is the case this year as Fernando Alonso is openly being preferred over his teammate
Felipe Massa in the championship run since the German Grand Prix.
However, Red Bull is thinking differently but they believe their drivers will do what is best for the team at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that is set to take place this weekend. The team has not issued any orders regarding the coming race but they
believe that their drivers are mature enough to understand and help their teammate if the situation calls for it. The only way Sebastian Vettel can win the championship is if Fernando finishes in 5th place or lower while his teammate Mark Webber
needs to win the race and that too, can only happen if Alonso finishes in 3rd place or lower.
Team boss Christian Horner does not want to pressurize his drivers and therefore, the team will head to Abu Dhabi without any concerns regarding the drivers’ title.
“I predict a Hollywood ending, with the worst case scenario that we don't become champion but if that's the case, we'll do it next year. Our philosophy stays the same because this is a sport and it must remain a sport,” said Mateschitz.
On the other hand, Mateschitz stated that his team will not do what Ferrari did at the German Grand Prix in order to gain some extra points in the championship. Even if Red Bull loses the drivers’ title, he believes that it is better to walk away with respect.
“We don't manipulate things like Ferrari do. The whole world condemned them after what they did in Hockenheim. But we have turned out to look like idiots because we have not acted in this way,” he added.
The two Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are currently in 2nd and 3rd places respectively with Mark 8 points and Sebastian 15 points behind the championship leader Fernando Alonso. However, they have another opponent
running for the championship and that is McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton who is 24 points adrift of the Spaniard.
“We have never even thought about it as long as both our drivers remain in the hunt for the championship. So a second place under correct circumstances might be better than a win on grounds of orders and confirmations,” said the co-owner of Red Bull.
It would be interesting to see what is going through the two Red Bull driver’s minds and the race at Abu Dhabi is definitely going to have a ground breaking end to it.
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