World champion Sebastian Vettel was unapologetic this week, having shown his Indian rival Narain Karthikeyan the middle finger recently in Malaysia.

The German also called the HRT-driving backmarker a “gherkin” and “idiot” in the aftermath of their Sepang clash that cost Vettel fourth place.

“I lost a solid fourth place so that’s obviously disappointing,” the 24-year-old is quoted by German media, including Sport Bild, after being asked this week about his loss of temper at Karthikeyan.

It was suggested Vettel might have breached the FIA’s code of conduct, but it is believed the governing body has decided the stewards properly investigated the incident in Malaysia.

And Vettel is unapologetic.

“Sometimes you let some emotion show and I don’t think someone should be ashamed about that,” he said. “It’s part of the sport.”

Vettel, having utterly dominated a year ago, is now just sixth in the drivers’ points standings after two races.

“Of course I would have preferred a slightly better start (to 2011),” he admitted, “but it’s a long season.

“We have a very good car and I still have a good chance — it is still the goal to fight for the title,” he said in Paris, where he accepted the ‘Grands Prix de l’Academie des Sports 2011′ award.

“Only a few hours ago I was in the simulator, preparing for China and Bahrain. We should hopefully have a few good improvements, but we need to prove that at the tracks,” said Vettel.

Martin Whitmarsh has backed the FIA’s decision to take no action against Fernando Alonso.

In the immediate aftermath of last Sunday’s European grand prix, the enraged Ferrari driver accused the governing body of “manipulation” in issuing a drive-through penalty that still allowed McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to finish second.

In the past, during Max Mosley’s long reign, the comments would have almost certainly attracted a disrepute charge, but new president Jean Todt let the incident pass with nothing more than a partial retraction by the Spaniard.

And while, in the past, the comments would also have triggered hostilities between long-time rivals McLaren and Ferrari, the British team’s boss Whitmarsh said Alonso’s outburst “doesn’t worry me”.

“Alonso was fairly outspoken but actually people want a bit of that,” the teams association FOTA’s chairman said at a fans’ forum in London on Thursday.

“In the past you have not been able to question,” Whitmarsh is quoted by the news agency AFP.

“There has to be a limit, some fine lines, but not being able to question a referee’s decisions, or umpire’s decisions or stewards’ decision?  Frankly, you have not been able to do that.”

(GMM)

Joan Villadelprat has warned Fernando Alonso to put a lid on his overt criticisms of F1′s governing body.

Spaniard Villadelprat, bidding to bring his Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi onto the F1 grid next year, was referring to Alonso’s accusation that a mild penalty for Lewis Hamilton in Valencia last week amounted to FIA manipulation.

In his column for the El Pais newspaper, he said countryman Alonso might be excused for mouthing off in the immediate aftermath of the race, but should now quieten his attack or risk official sanctions.

“I think Alonso was heated and just out of the car,” he said.  “I can understand their anger because Ferrari thought this race was a turning point in their championship.

“I also believe the stewards failed to react as they should.  But I cannot say that Lewis Hamilton deserved a more severe penalty because it happened exactly as is in the regulations.

“But the reaction should have been much faster — (the stewards’ decision) took about 14 laps!  I suppose they waited so long because they were analysing it before giving a verdict.

“In any case, Fernando needs to be very careful about what he says, because these types of attacks are of no benefit and could even cost a penalty.

“But even more, it’s because I don’t think he really believes the stewards acted intentionally for Hamilton and against his own interest.

“I know that in times like these it is difficult to keep your head and your tongue cool, but Alonso needs to concentrate on his work, on getting his car on pole position and on stemming the difference that still separates Ferrari from Red Bull and McLaren,” added Villadelprat.

(GMM)

Jun.9 (GMM)  Jacques Villeneuve has become the latest pundit to comment on the crash between the Red Bull cars at the recent Turkish grand prix.

The aftermath of Sebastian Vettel’s clash with Mark Webber was highly controversial, as most outsiders initially blamed Vettel but Red Bull chiefs pointed the finger at Australian Webber.

It emerged that Webber’s engine was in a fuel-saving mode – although team figures initially refused to confirm that was the case – and that his engineer had declined to pass on a radio message advising him to let his young German teammate through.

Then, as the official line became more conciliatory, figures close to team owner Dietrich Mateschitz including Max Mosley and Gerhard Berger renewed the criticism of Webber, before the 33-year-old was re-signed for the 2011 season.

The latest twist is that Mateschitz’s right-hand man Dr Helmut Marko says the pair are still free to race, but must not stridently resist each other’s advances.

“Both cars were out in the lead, but drivers are drivers and it is always difficult for one to give 110 per cent while the other does not,” Villeneuve wrote in a column for rds.ca.

“After the race, the reaction of the team seemed strange — to assign fault to someone so quickly and categorically.

“But you never know what really happened when you’ve looked at the situation from the outside as I did,” added the 39-year-old French Canadian.

Meanwhile, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen thinks the only lingering effect of the crash is that Vettel and Webber will from now on behave “a bit more carefully” when they are wheel-to-wheel.

“In a similar situation you would just behave a bit differently so that it doesn’t happen again,” the Red Bull-sponsored world rally driver told Austrian Servus TV.

“It was just an incident in the race and now it’s finished,” he added.

May 30 (GMM)  Red Bull had instructed Mark Webber to switch his engine to a fuel-saving mode in the moments before his crash with teammate Sebastian Vettel in Turkey.

In the aftermath of the controversial incident, rumours began to swirl inside the Istanbul Park paddock that there was more to it than met the eye.

Australian Webber alluded to the intrigue by telling reporters after the race that Vettel had a “big top speed advantage” when he launched the move.

Pressed for whether there was a reason for the speed difference, Webber answered: “Hmm, maybe.

“You guys need to dig more, somewhere else.”

The media therefore went to team bosses Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, who initially did not confirm that Webber and Vettel’s engines were running on different settings.

“I think it was in the tyres,” said advisor Marko, when asked specifically if there was a reason that Vettel was so much quicker than Webber at the time of the shunt.

Both Horner and Marko seemed to blame Webber for the crash, directly contradicting many experts within the paddock.

It is rumoured that, as the pair were on equal points at the head of the world championship at the time of the shunt, Red Bull wanted Vettel to pass Webber and win the race.

Marko denied that Webber’s engineer had been instructed to tell the driver to let Vettel past.

“That is not correct,” said the Austrian, “because that would mean a team order.

“We informed Mark about the situation and it is for the driver to decide.  The fact is that if Sebastian hadn’t passed he would have been overtaken by Hamilton.”