“We should not have team orders so early in the season – not while the
championship is at such an early stage,” he said.
“When it happens you need to fix it, and fix it quickly.
“Yes, one of our drivers (Kimi Raikkonen) is famous for doing pretty
much what he wants, but when you have 600 people behind you there is a
certain respect you must have for the team.”
That respect is what Boullier feels Vettel lacked for Red Bull when he chose
to ignore Horner.
“You have two main strategies to run a team,” Boullier said.
“You might favour one driver, clearly stating ‘driver number one’ and
‘driver number two’ if your target is chasing the drivers’ title.
“Alternatively, you have both drivers equal, as this is the way you want
to go racing – meaning the team holds a lot of importance.
“The team gives both drivers the same cars, the same conditions, the
same performance, but there is a commitment from the team to the drivers.
“In that case I can understand team orders because you are working for
the team, not for the drivers. They are working for you.”
Vettel, meanwhile, has made it clear he will never apologise for winning the
race at the Sepang International Circuit.
The 25-year-old German apologised to Webber and Red Bull on a number of
occasions shortly after the chequered flag fell for defying team orders, but
makes no concessions for the type of driver he is.
“I think there is not much to add than what happened,” Vettel said
in a video interview with the team’s title sponsors Infiniti ahead of this
weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
“I apologised to the team straight after for putting myself above the
team, which I didn’t mean to do. But there is not much more to say, really.
“I don’t apologise for winning. That is why people employed me in the
first place and why I’m here. I love racing and that’s what I did.”