http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/7649783/Miffed-RBR-send-manager-to-backmarkers Didn't think I'd miss the days when drivers march down to each others garages and had to be restrained from fighting each other like Coulthard and Schumacher but it seems Vettel now has a gang of thugs to do his dirty work for him. Seems a couple of championships have gone to their heads.
Why do they let Marko near a microphone? Horner is their team manager, so his comments don't really make sense, Marko can't tell Horner what to do. Also if they have a problem with things like this they should go raise it with the FIA in the pre-race briefings like everyone else does.
Planet F1s reporting is usually patchy at best but there are two ways to read this story. Either they sent Horner who is there team manager to have a word or they have sent a manager to those teams in order to "manage" their back markers during the race. I find it odd that they said they sent their manager and didn't mention Horner by name, which makes me think it's a bad reporting error by PlanetF1 or translation problems and they have in fact sent someone to tell them to move over each race. Either way it's not very sporting bullying the junior teams.
We could do with tomcat to tell us what he actually said. Where good old PlanetF1.com says, "We have told our team manager to talk to both Marussia and HRT," F1Times.com translates it as "he has asked Red Bull's team manager to speak to both teams to request they 'pay more attention'."
either way, red bull are just trying to gain any advantage they can by bullying the back teams. don't see any of the other top teams doing that, they just get on with their racing, even if they are slowed down by a backmarker.
[My bold] Unfortunately, that's not the way Hell's mutt Marko sees it. Sycophantic Little Jack Horner has always been his run-around errand boy - and convenient mouthpiece whenever it suits.
I seem to remember Ferrari had a few harsh words for them back in 2010, that was a few years ago though.
I can only hope that Marussia and HRT reciprocate with the same finger Vettel used on Narain. Karthikeyan said they were "bullies" and they just seem intent on proving it.
Maybe this is the only way RBR can convince vettel to stay by giving a false environment that similar to Ferrari of past. Schumacher - Vettel Byrne - Newey Rubens - Webber Brawn - Horner Toad - Mutt You know my insanity makes sense!
When a team that is used to winning suddenly stops winning they usually try various methods to get back to those winning ways. The question is where's the line.
I can only hope the back markers obey the rules and get out of the way so we can see the top drivers racing each other, Karthikeyan poor awareness robbed us of Vettel catching and fighting with Lewis, the battle most would like to see I think, and yet everyone feels sorry for the team and driver that caused it not to happen. I want HRT to succeed and move up the grid, but not at the expense of excitement up the front, is it bullying to tell people to be more aware on track? I guess it depends on your view of the incident, which for me, after listening to Karthikeyans excuse and seeing the replay, is 100% Karthikeyans fault and his excuse complete BS
There's nothing wrong with drivers being reminded how to respond to blue flags, both periodically and following a specific incident, but whose place is it to remind them and when? As AG mentioned, the FIA could do so during driver briefings. Another appropriate forum might be GPDA meetings. Team Managers (or, at least, team representatives) could discuss it at that level through FOTA. Like Bando and Westy, I think Red Bull are again trying to emulate the Ferrari approach of the early 2000s in seeking every conceivable advantage in every conceivable area. Commentators used to say that back markers jumped out of the way when they saw in their mirrors the red cars bearing down upon them and I think both Vettel's post-race comments and Horner and Marko's pit lane manipulations are calculated to gain a similar advantage for the yellow nose. It's not a particularly appealing approach to me but it's how F1 works and Red Bull aren't there to be nice, they're there to win. In my opinion, the introduction of DRS removes the need for blue flags and, without blue flags, these issues wouldn't arise. If leading drivers were expected to overtake back markers instead of having them jump out of the way then we might get a bit more racing, the spectacle would be better, back-of-the-field sponsors would get a bit more exposure, and there would be less of a grey area. The best racers will manage to overtake back markers cleanly elsewhere on the lap, the rest can wait until the DRS zone to do it.
If you still want to argue Vettel's innocence (or lack of circumspection), there is another thread to discuss Karthikeyan's collision with him, Miggins. This thread is about whether it is right for a team to coerce the governing body. To my mind, there is very little difference to a footballer (or Manager) trying to coerce refereeing officials. It is wrong; completely wrong - in principle! It does not happen in rugger, athletics, ice-hockey, basketball, golf, etc. where respect is maintained; and it should not be allowed in soccer or any other sport, including motor racing.
Isn't it about them trying to throw their weight around with the backmarkers? They're not storming the Place de la Concorde demanding that the FIA do something about it.
http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7651094/Vettel-Not-Ashamed-Of-Karthikeyan-Rant It doesn't seem to be getting any better publicity wise for Red Bull. Vettel is quickly going to lose his likable image at this rate. I seem to remember he robbed a few drivers of good finishes with dodgy over take manouvers, one was his own team mate which resulted in yet another interesting "finger-ism" from Sebastien
As I said, it depends on your view of the incident, I find it sadly hilarious that people blame him for both
