After first accusing Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton has now pointed the finger at the Toro Rosso drivers for holding him up in Spain last weekend.

Hamilton had said Schumacher, a friend and countryman of Sebastian Vettel’s, blocked him during the rivals’ fight in Barcelona for victory.

Schumacher, however, denied favouring his friend over the similarly Mercedes-powered Hamilton, while a McLaren spokesman agreed “There is no conspiracy”.

But Hamilton has now accused Toro Rosso duo Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi of letting fellow Red Bull stablemate Vettel easily pass last weekend before getting in his way.

“Definitely there was some of that – all of a sudden moving in my way – which caused a bigger gap,” the Briton alleged. “I hope the stewards are aware of it.”

According to the Telegraph, Red Bull boss Christian Horner answered “no way” when asked if Toro Rosso is playing tactical games on the senior team’s behalf.

A Toro Rosso spokesman added: “The suggestion we would have held up any other car to favour a Red Bull is preposterous, and would never have happened.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, said audaciously before Monaco that if he was sitting in a Red Bull this season, he would be quicker than Vettel.

And Bild newspaper published comments by Hamilton claiming he “works on a higher level” than Vettel, and insisting that “the only one who can beat him is me”.

“I guess Lewis said it all,” responded Vettel in an interview with F1′s official website. “If that is what he thinks, that’s fine with me.”

Michael Schumacher has denied blocking Lewis Hamilton in Spain last weekend to help his friend, countryman and championship leader Sebastian Vettel win the Barcelona race.

British media said McLaren’s Hamilton alleged the seven time world champion blocked him after letting Vettel, his regular teammate for the end-of-season Race of Champions event, easily pass while being lapped.

“I won’t speak to him (Schumacher) about it,” said Hamilton. “I don’t want to waste my time or my breath.”

Responded Schumacher: “That certainly must have been a misunderstanding. I try to get out of the way for anybody.

“It’s true that Sebastian and I are friends,” he told the German news agency SID, “but on the track, I’m not for or against anybody.”

Agreed a McLaren spokesman: “There is no conspiracy.”

Karun Chandhok on Saturday refused to buy into a conspiracy theory surrounding the occupant of his old HRT race cockpit this weekend.

Many paddock figures were bemused on Friday when, as it emerged that Sakon Yamamoto was holed up in his Singapore hotel with food poisoning, it was Christian Klien who was called up to replace the Japanese.

Indian Chandhok started the season in the Cosworth-powered car, and has been attending every race since he was sidelined in the hope of returning to the wheel.

“He had his chance,” team boss Colin Kolles said. “I think Christian also deserved a chance.”

And as for whether Yamamoto really has food poisoning, amid suggestions his sponsor funding might simply have dried up, Chandhok would not be drawn.

“I haven’t spoken to Sakon. I have no idea if he is sitting on the toilet or not,” he smiled.

Yamamoto, 28, in fact watched qualifying from within the HRT garage, as his stand-in Klien outqualified Bruno Senna’s sister car by more than a full second.

It was not an engine problem that slowed Sebastian Vettel and allowed teammate Mark Webber to pass him during the Italian grand prix.

The conspiracy theorists’ eyes widened during Sunday’s Monza race when the RB6 driven by Vettel, who is behind Webber in the world championship, temporarily slowed but then recovered pace after the Australian had passed him.

The young German was heard on the radio complaining of a loss of engine power, to which BBC pundit Eddie Jordan recommended him for a Bafta — a British acting prize.

Team boss Christian Horner later clarified that the problem was not caused by the Renault engine.

“At first we thought one of his visor tear-offs might have flown into the airbox, but it now looks as though his brakes were momentarily binding, probably as the result of hitting a kerb,” said the Briton.

The same conspiracy theorists were also pointing to an incident during Felipe Massa’s pitstop that put the Ferrari driver out of contention for the top two places at Monza, a race won by the Brazilian’s teammate Fernando Alonso.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said afterwards. “I just saw that they took a little bit of time to change the front right tyre.”

Jun.16 (GMM)  Mark Webber is not promoting any of the conspiracy theories after losing his championship lead in Canada last week.

After their infamous Turkey crash, the Australian qualified ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in Montreal.

But he had to move back five grid places after a precautionary gearbox change.

Some pundits joked that Dr Helmut Marko, who allegedly favours Vettel, must have taken a crowbar to Webber’s transmission.

“I would also have changed the gearbox,” the 33-year-old is quoted as saying by Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

“It’s better to lose a few places but still get to the finish line.  In my situation, I need every point,” said Webber.

Webber’s problem was not the only one for Red Bull on Sunday; Vettel was also asked to slow down with what team boss Christian Horner confirms was a “gearbox-related issue”.

At least the Istanbul saga seems now to be in the past.  On Wednesday evening in Canada, Webber and Vettel jointly shouted the entire race team to dinner.

“I ordered the most expensive meal on the menu, because I know how hard it is to separate drivers from their money,” laughed Horner.

Jun.9 (GMM)  As Red Bull continues to put the pieces of its fractured team back together, boss Christian Horner has moved to exonerate Mark Webber’s race engineer.

Initially after the Australian crashed with his teammate Sebastian Vettel while they led in Turkey, Horner and team consultant Helmut Marko pointed the finger not only at Webber but also Ciaron Pilbeam.

Race engineer Pilbeam was accused of not passing on information about the charging Vettel to Webber, and conspiracy theorists believe he refused to implement a team order.

Moreover, the official video edit of the Istanbul race published by F1′s official website depicts Pilbeam instructing Webber to use his overtake Button to repel Vettel’s attack.

And in an interview with the BBC published on Wednesday, Horner denied that he was calling on the pitwall for Webber to “move!” in the moments before the crash.

“I don’t think I actually said ‘move’,” said the Briton.

“Ciaron Pilbeam has taken a bit of flak recently.  He had no instruction to tell mark to move out of the way, that is 100 per cent clear.

“There was no conspiracy trying to get one car past the other or getting one to slow down,” added Horner.

He also admitted that team figures had been wrong to initially blame Webber for the incident.

“In the cold light of day it was a racing accident, nothing more, nothing less.  It was wrong to blame either driver,” said Horner.

Jun.8 (GMM)  An engineer was wrong to tell Lewis Hamilton that his teammate Jenson Button would not overtake during the recent Turkish grand prix.

A video edit of the Istanbul Park race released by F1′s official website revealed that Phil Prew, the British team’s principal engineer, answered ‘No Lewis, no” when Hamilton asked if Button would overtake him.

Conspiracy theorists interpreted the news as 2009 world champion Button having ignored a veiled team order.

But team boss Martin Whitmarsh explained on Tuesday: “Phil gave an opinion to Lewis, and as it turned out his opinion was wrong.  It’s as simple as that.

“They were being told to look after fuel, (and) as a consequence of that Phil Prew had the opinion that Jenson wouldn’t overtake,” he told reporters during a teleconference.

The Court de Grande Instance ordered the lifetime ban imposed by the FIA against Briatore to be overturned.

Motor sport’s world governing body are currently looking into their options and considering whether to launch an appeal, a course of action Briatore has advised them against doing.

“I wouldn’t do it after such a verdict,” remarked the former Renault team principal in Gazzetta dello Sport.

Briatore, however, may now go gunning for the Piquets as it was they who blew the whistle on the ‘crashgate’ scandal.

Piquet Jnr deliberately crashed his car at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix in order to help team-mate Fernando Alonso take the win.

Briatore, along with former Renault director of engineering Pat Symonds, were then implicated in the conspiracy by the Piquets.

The 59-year-old Italian did initially threaten legal action once the story emerged.

That was soon forgotten after he vacated his position at Renault, who had opted not to contest the allegation made against them by the FIA that they fixed the result of the aforementioned race.

Asked if he would now take action against the Piquets, Briatore replied: “That’s very likely. The bad that has been done to me won’t be forgotten in one day.”

Briatore’s problem, however, is the Tribunal merely stated the FIA sanction was “irregular” as it did not comply with their statutes.

At no stage has the TGI reversed the FIA’s finding that both Briatore and Symonds conspired to cause an intentional crash.

Clearly in a feisty mood, however, Briatore may also take action against those drivers who opted to break away from his management company, notably Heikki Kovalainen and Lucas di Grassi.

“Except for Kovalainen and di Grassi, my relationship with the other drivers has never changed,” added Briatore, who also oversees the likes of Mark Webber.

“In fact, now we’ll analyse the situation with the lawyers to see whether we should take legal action against anyone who has broken the contracts with us.”

Briatore’s main source of anger, though, remains directed at former FIA president Max Mosley who he once described as “complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge” in the case against him.

“It was a case of vengeance from Mosley, who has always managed the FIA and the World Council as if it was private property,” remarked Briatore.

“He had reassured me, telling me they understood I didn’t have anything to do with that story. Then came that verdict. It was an ignoble thing after 18 years of F1.”

Source: PlanetF1