Infiniti Red Bull Racing 2013

[Ral]

Not sure if this is meant to go here, so please let me know if it's meant to go somewhere else.

I was surprised at the very public denouncement of Vettel's behaviour and his reaction of "I didn't do it on purpose". It didn't sound to me like something a manager planning a long-term future with their protégé would come out and say to the press. Certainly in the past they have been much more protective of him in public.

With Webber all but confirming he is really considering how much he is actually still enjoying this kind of racing as well, what are the chances of a whole-sale driver lineup change at RBR? And if that does happen, what would the chances be of Mateschitz taking note and comparing marketing income to potential marketing disasters like last weekend and deciding enough is enough?

[Kiril Varbanov]

Some tongue-in-cheek from pretty unreliable sources:
Vettel's car is about to get a new sticker:

[Juzh]

Some tongue-in-cheek from pretty unreliable sources:
Vettel's car is about to get a new sticker

This belongs in caption competition thread, not in here.

[shelly]

I have one question: why does redbull start issuing team orders in favour of mark webber? In the past iirc if webber was ahead they were let free to race (see turkey 2010 for example) if webber was behind he was asked to stay behind ("maintain the gap") They did not apply team orders fro webber in brazil 2010, penultimate race with web ahead in the chapionship and easy dominance of that race.
So what's happening? Why does redbull behave the opposite of last three years?

Is this the first sign (together with massa renewed form and the promptly removed anti-Alonso article on omnicorse) that the contracts for the alonso-vettel swap between ferrari and redbull have aready been signed?

[Websta]

I have one question: why does redbull start issuing team orders in favour of mark webber? In the past iirc if webber was ahead they were let free to race (see turkey 2010 for example) if webber was behind he was asked to stay behind ("maintain the gap") They did not apply team orders fro webber in brazil 2010, penultimate race with web ahead in the chapionship and easy dominance of that race.
So what's happening? Why does redbull behave the opposite of last three years?

Is this the first sign (together with massa renewed form and the promptly removed anti-Alonso article on omnicorse) that the contracts for the alonso-vettel swap between ferrari and redbull have aready been signed?

The team order was in favour of preserving the tyres and I believe was a prearranged agreement. They didn't necessarily want Webber to finish ahead of Vettel - they most likely just wanted to guarantee the 1-2 finish and the points, especially with Ferrari out of serious points contention, and thus told the drivers to coast home in the final stint. The tyre life was an unknown going into the weekend, hence the trepidation. In the past seasons (2010) they were free to race, especially when under pressure from other drivers (Lewis was catching Vettel in Turkey 2010, etc).

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Who will replace him?

Nobody will have the chance to replace him, because no matter how pissed off he is at what happened yesterday, he knows RBR has the upper hand this season and is his best chance to win and will not leave. Plenty of people deal with jobs they're not necessarily happy about.

[Cam]

Who will replace him?

Nobody will have the chance to replace him, because no matter how pissed off he is at what happened yesterday, he knows RBR has the upper hand this season and is his best chance to win and will not leave. Plenty of people deal with jobs they're not necessarily happy about.

I've walked twice on principal - both high paying, both top line companies there's a queue to work for. It's a very personal thing. When the love is gone, it's gone. You'd rather feel happy than hollow. At least it was for me - no regrets.

[stefan_]

Who will replace him?

Nobody will have the chance to replace him, because no matter how pissed off he is at what happened yesterday, he knows RBR has the upper hand this season and is his best chance to win and will not leave. Plenty of people deal with jobs they're not necessarily happy about.

When you take a lot of smacks on the face and at one point get to the bottom of the s**t barrel, you say "F**k it, screw you guys - I'm out" and leave no matter the team, boss or circumstances. Mark is not the kind of guy who will hang around just for the sake of it. Red Bull is not the last place on earth where you can race, you can go in other competitions, maybe not gain the same amount of money but at least you can be happy and enjoy racing.

[StrikeForceF1]

Some tongue-in-cheek from pretty unreliable sources:
Vettel's car is about to get a new sticker:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 0200_n.jpg

Rightly belongs in the caption competition but I have to say =D> =D> =D>

[Donuts]

Who will replace him?

Easy Robert Kubica Mid-season or next year

[raymondu999]

While I sincerely hope Kubica returns to the grid - I don't believe that he will in 2013. Like he said a while back (I can't remember where I read it) he can still drive in the wide, sweeping circuits such as Sepang and Barcelona, because the arm motion is smoother, but he still cannot drive the more aggressive places, such as Monaco, just yet.

[CHT]

I have one question: why does redbull start issuing team orders in favour of mark webber? In the past iirc if webber was ahead they were let free to race (see turkey 2010 for example) if webber was behind he was asked to stay behind ("maintain the gap") They did not apply team orders fro webber in brazil 2010, penultimate race with web ahead in the chapionship and easy dominance of that race.
So what's happening? Why does redbull behave the opposite of last three years?

Is this the first sign (together with massa renewed form and the promptly removed anti-Alonso article on omnicorse) that the contracts for the alonso-vettel swap between ferrari and redbull have aready been signed?

The team order was in favour of preserving the tyres and I believe was a prearranged agreement. They didn't necessarily want Webber to finish ahead of Vettel - they most likely just wanted to guarantee the 1-2 finish and the points, especially with Ferrari out of serious points contention, and thus told the drivers to coast home in the final stint. The tyre life was an unknown going into the weekend, hence the trepidation. In the past seasons (2010) they were free to race, especially when under pressure from other drivers (Lewis was catching Vettel in Turkey 2010, etc).

I disagree on this. If drivers and team can talk the risk of switching to slick with others are still on inter, I dont see why drivers arent allowed to make this own judgement and decision about racing. Vettel has learn from his own experience the importance of collecting the maximum points in every race in order to win the championship and he will get no help from Webber. So perhaps thats the motivation behind what he did.

[nacho]

Looking at pace of Mercedes drivers this season, Schumacher would be the best choice I think.

[Gridlock]

He's not going anywhere.

a) It's not just Mark that's on Mark's side.
b) He's a trooper. Unfair is unfair, the best revenge is living well. In F1, that's difficult to do if you're not in the fastest car.

Plus, somewhere there's a document heading towards Herr Mateschitz with a dollar value on the brand coverage this has caused.

It's also likely there's one pointing out that this isn't necessarily net positive coverage. Brand is all.

I do however think there's a substantial chance of a new Team Principal by China.

[wunderkind]

I think the simple solution to the current problem is:

Get rid of Helmut Marko - He is the dark force within the team and without him, Vettel will be answerable to Horner.

Horner cannot manage the team with Marko standing around compromising his efforts.