MOTOR SPORT TURKISH GRAND PRIX:RED BULL threw away an almost certain one-two finish in Istanbul yesterday as drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber collided while leading the Turkish Grand Prix.
Webber, who had led every lap after starting from pole, was in command of the race with just over 17 laps remaining when Vettel, who had lost second to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton before regaining the spot in the race’s only stop, began to close. As the pair headed towards turn 12 on lap 41 the young German, running marginally quicker than his championship-leading team-mate, decided it was now or never.
However, having drawn level with Webber on the inside, Vettel’s car suddenly jinked right, his right rear wheel tangling with Webber’s rear left. Both cars arrowed off track into the run-off area, debris flying.
By the time the dust had settled, Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button had barrelled through to establish a one-two lead for McLaren that would endure until the chequered flag.
Vettel, meanwhile, was out of his car, hands in the air and surveying the damage – a punctured rear right and broken bodywork calling time on his race.
Webber, though, was limping back into the race, the half-minute gap the leaders had enjoyed back to fourth-placed Michael Schumacher meaning that Webber could nurse his car back to the pits for a new cone and fresh rubber and still hang on to third.
Up ahead Button briefly got past Hamilton as the pair tussled cleanly in turn 12 but, once Hamilton had muscled his way through again and the pair were told to conserve fuel by their team, it was over as a contest, McLaren taking their second one-two of the year, the last coming in China.
“Seb had a top speed advantage and he went down the inside. We were side by side and then it looks like he turned pretty quickly to the right and we made contact,” said a tight-lipped Webber afterwards.
“It’s a shame for the team, not an ideal day. Neither wants to make contact but it can happen sometimes when both are in front.”
A shaken Vettel later admitted he had lost control of his car at the crucial moment, but refused to apportion blame for the incident.
“I dived down the inside, had the corner and was on the left. I was trying to focus on the braking point,” he said. “All of a sudden I lost the car and we touched. But I’m not the kind of guy who pushes all the fault to one guy.”
On the pitwall, reaction to the incident was immediate fury, both team principal Christian Horner and designer Adrian Newey throwing their hands in the air and holding their heads in hands. Afterwards, Horner confirmed he would be speaking to both drivers about the incident.
“To see both cars touch each other was really disappointing,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to Sebastian, he got a run but they should never had been where they were. The priority is to beat the other teams and today we handed 43 points on a plate to McLaren. We need to sit down, go through it and come back stronger at the next event.”
Horner added while the team encouraged its drivers to race the need to give adequate space on the track was always stressed.
“What we always ask is that the drivers give each other room,” he said. “Today neither yielded, and the result was the team losing a lot of points, Mark losing a lot of points and Sebastian losing a lot of points – the net result is everybody loses.”
Down at McLaren mechanics could barely conceal their delight as the Red Bulls spun and Hamilton and Button went through the smoke to assume the lead.
At least both McLaren drivers had the good grace to look slightly sheepish in the company of the clearly furious Webber on the podium.
“It was great to watch. Like watching an action movie in HD or 3D,” said Hamilton. “It was fantastic. I got the best view of it! Sebastian is (normally) safe, but I just saw him go up the inside. Mark held his line and there was no room (for Vettel) to move right, and no reason for Seb to move to the right (but he did). It was unfortunate for them and fortunate for us.
“You can see how close it is between the four of us. It’s down to momentum, and we will do the best we can to win both championships. We have been ragging their tails for some time.”
The only consolation for Webber is that in hanging on to third place he also maintains his championship lead. The Australian will now head to Canada in two weeks’ time with 93 points, five clear of Button and nine ahead of Hamilton.
The big loser, though, is Vettel, whose exit from the race has dropped him to fifth in the title race on 78 points, one behind Fernando Alonso, who struggled to eighth behind team-mate Felipe Massa in a sluggish Ferrari yesterday. It was, however, another good day for Michael Schumacher, the seven-time champion again making progress in his comeback, finishing a comfortable fourth ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg.
(58 Laps): 1 L Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1hr 28mins 47.620secs, 2 J Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:28:50.265, 3 M Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:29:11.905, 4 M Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:29:18.730, 5 N Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:29:19.886, 6 R Kubica (Pol) Renault 1:29:20.444, 7 F Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:29:24.255, 8 F Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:29:34.164, 9 A Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:29:36.649, 10 K Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1:29:53.270, 11 P de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 1:29:53.564, 12 J Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:29:55.420, 13 V Liuzzi Ita Force India at 1 lap, 14 R Barrichello (Bra) Williams at 1 lap, 15 V Petrov (Rus) Renault at 1 lap, 16 S Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 lap, 17 N Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams at 1 lap, 18 T Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing at 3 laps, 19 L di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing at 3 laps. Not Classifed: 20 K Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 52 laps completed, 21 B Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 46 laps completed, 22 S Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 39 laps completed, 23 H Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 33 laps completed, 24 J Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 32 laps completed.
Drivers’ Championship: 1 Webber (Aus) Red Bull 93pts, 2 Button (Gbr) McLaren 88, 3 Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 84, 4 Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 79, 5 Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 78, 6 Kubica (Pol) Renault 67, 7 Massa (Bra) Ferrari 67, 8 Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 66, 9 Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP 34, 10 Sutil (Ger) Force India 22, 11 Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 10, 12 Barrichello (Bra) Williams 7, 13 Petrov (Rus) Renault 6, 14 Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 15 Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1, 16 Kobayashi (Jpn) BMW Sauber 1.0, 17 Hulkenberg (Ger) Williams 1, 18 de la Rosa (Spa) BMW Sauber 0, 19 Kovalainen (Fin) Lotus F1 0, 20 Chandhok (Ind) HRT-F1 0, 21 di Grassi (Bra) Virgin Racing 0, 22 Trulli (Ita) Lotus F1 0, 23 Senna (Bra) HRT-F1 0, 24 Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing 0.
Manufacturers’ Championship: 1 McLaren 172pts, 2 Red Bull 171, 3 Ferrari 146, 4 Mercedes GP 100, 5 Renault 73, 6 Force India 32, 7 Williams 8, 8 Scuderia Toro Rosso 4, 9 BMW Sauber 1, 10 Lotus F1 0, 11 HRT-F1 0, 12 Virgin Racing 0.
