The 25-year-old’s frictions with Webber had flared up frequently even before
the incident in Malaysia, notably when he grew frustrated with his team-mate
for holding him up in last year’s crucial final race in Brazil.
Here, ahead of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, Vettel indicated that his refusal
to hold station behind Webber in Kuala Lumpur had been borne of revenge.
Asked if he felt he had achieved “payback”, he said: “You could say that,
indirectly.”
This was hardly the model of contrition we had witnessed in Malaysia, where
Vettel had conceded his mistake and offered an unconditional apology to
Webber.
Under rigorous inquisition here, he argued that the pair’s fractious past had
led to the decision to pass Webber in a ferocious late-race duel.
“I never had support from his side,” he said. “I respect him a lot as a racing
driver, but there was more than one occasion in the past where he could have
helped the team and he didn’t.”
On the question of whether they still trusted each other, Vettel replied: “I
wouldn’t call it trust, to be honest. I think we have a professional
relationship.”
Vettel and his elder sidekick also had a memorable confrontation in Turkey in
2010, when they blamed each other for a crash that ended both their hopes of
winning, and at Silverstone the following year, as Webber was told to stay
behind but continued to attack.
This was a performance to illustrate where the true authority at Red Bull
resided, as Vettel scoffed at any suggestion that he had been sanctioned for
his disobedience.
“There are a lot of marks on my back,” he said, grinning broadly. “I did
apologise [to the team] and I meant it.”
Then, with all the attitude of one with three world titles at the age of 25,
he added: “Sanction as in punishment? Maybe it is a bit of dreamland that
you all live in. What do you expect to happen?”
The frosty tone of the exchanges had been set from the very first question,
when Vettel was pressed on how it felt to be “the bad guy” after previously
being portrayed as a paragon of virtue.
“I don’t consider myself to be the bad guy,” he insisted. “I don’t think I
did something that was particularly bad.”
Given such defiance, it was little wonder Helmut Marko, director of motorsport
at Red Bull, had expressed his preference this week for a ban on team orders
by the reigning constructors’ champions.
Webber, making his first public comments since escaping the row with a surfing
break back home in Australia, suggested that he was considering his future
at Red Bull.
“Come the summer, I will talk to Dietrich [Mateschitz, the Red Bull
co-owner],” said the 36-year-old, in the final year of his contract.
“I haven’t made any decision yet. I am keen to continue the season.”
Meanwhile, Lewis
Hamilton suffered a health scare as he was forced to spend Thursday
in his Shanghai hotel with symptoms of an allergy.
The 2008 world champion missed his scheduled press engagements as Mercedes
confirmed he was experiencing eye and nose problems.
Hamilton had made an early visit to the circuit but returned to his
city-centre hotel feeling unwell.
Hamilton was said by his team to require a period of rest ahead of Sunday’s
race. Shanghai has been affected by serious air pollution levels in recent
weeks.