Sebastian Vettel has defended his former mentor Michael Schumacher.

The seven time world champion has been roundly criticised since last Sunday’s Spanish grand prix, after crashing into Williams’ Bruno Senna at the end of the Barcelona straight.

He called the Brazilian driver an “idiot” on the radio and later defended the outburst, but the FIA did not agree, imposing a five-place qualifying penalty for Monte Carlo for causing a collision.

“For us, that manoeuvre of Michael’s cost us a lot,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said on Austrian Servus TV.

He said the debris from the crash not only damaged Vettel’s front wing, but led to the reigning world champion having to serve a drive-through penalty due to activating his DRS wing in the yellow-flag zone.

German Vettel, however, defended Schumacher.

“In those situations we don’t have much time of course,” he said, “and you can get very great speed differences (between the cars) on the straights.

“I think it should be classified simply in the category of racing accidents. Unfortunately it happens,” said the reigning world champion.

“Of course you can always say what is what afterwards,” added Vettel, “just as you can say that it always takes two to tango.”

Mercedes’ Norbert Haug was less eager to comment, although he did tell Germany’s Sport1 that the team “accepts the verdict of the race stewards”.

Kimi Raikkonen can add a second title to his tally in 2012.

That is the claim of the 2007 world champion’s countryman Mika Salo, who now commentates on Finnish television MTV3.

In the fourth race of Raikkonen’s return to F1 from rallying, the 32-year-old last weekend challenged Sebastian Vettel for victory in Bahrain, finishing second for Lotus.

Five years after his title with Ferrari, he is 19 points from the head of the 2012 drivers’ championship.

“The most consistent team has been Lotus,” former grand prix driver Salo said. “They’ve been fast at every circuit so far.

“In that sense, Kimi’s situation looks very good. I would not exclude it at all that he will be fighting at the very end of the championship, if Lotus is able to maintain the pace of development.”

It is on Salo’s final point that Lotus’ 2012 season will really be made.

“They (as Renault) also began the previous season just as well, but soon after they were nowhere,” observed the Swiss commentator Marc Surer, speaking on Austrian television Servus TV.

“So the real question is ‘Do they have the resources to develop the car and stay where they are now?’”

Even if Lotus’ challenge fades, the future for Raikkonen – who has surprised some experts with his re-adaptation to F1 after two years of rallying – is bright, Surer insisted.

“I think he has shown everyone that he is still able to do just what he was doing before (leaving F1),” he said.

“He is a lot younger than Schumacher, and if you look at the past ten years, he is probably one of the best talents that we have seen in F1.”

Surer said he could therefore imagine Raikkonen leaving Lotus and returning to a ‘top’ team, but he wouldn’t know which one to recommend.

“Everything is so balanced this year that it’s impossible to pick a car that he could win the championship in.”

With the F1 world now returned from Bahrain, the sport is assessing the fallout of one of the most controversial grands prix in history.

The drivers were conspicuously quiet over the saga in the island Kingdom, but – with no contract tying him down – former Force India driver Adrian Sutil admitted he was glad he was not there.

“In a situation like that, it is probably better not to go,” the German said on Sky Deutschland.

“On the one hand, the decision was made (to go to Bahrain), on the other hand, it’s very difficult when there are so many problems in a country.”

Red Bull reserve driver Sebastien Buemi, who has family living in Bahrain, does not agree at all.

“I arrived on Monday and I had no problem — maybe there were a few more police than two years ago, but nothing happened to me,” the Swiss insisted on Austrian Servus TV.

Force India and Sauber, however, witnessed Molotov cocktail attacks on their treks to and from the circuit.

And Caterham team spokesman Tom Webb told the Sun that there was “one minor incident when one of our (hire) vans slowed down in traffic and its occupants saw a local youth on the side of the main road brandishing a bottle with a rag stuffed in its neck”.

World champion and race winner Sebastian Vettel also admitted the feeling was tense in the paddock throughout the weekend.

“It was not easy for anyone,” the Red Bull driver admitted, according to SID news agency, “but I’m glad that nothing happened to any of us (in F1).”

And the Telegraph quotes Vettel adding: “Hopefully, we come back in the future when everything’s a little bit safer.”

Reuters reports that Vodafone, the main sponsor of the half Bahrain-owned McLaren team, sent no staff to the country and expressed concerns to the British outfit.

But Jim Wright, an F1 sponsorship expert, told the Guardian that he thinks while the sport’s image took a beating last weekend, sponsors will be happy.

“Most teams handled a difficult decision very well,” he said. “On that basis I think a lot of people would be pleased with that and happy to get involved with them.”

The television audience was also unaffected – even boosted – with the BBC reporting more viewers for Bahrain than Australia and Malaysia, and Germany revealing similarly strong figures.

Still, there remains criticism.

“Now is an opportunity to reflect,” former F1 driver Alex Zanardi told Tuttosport, “and make sure that major sporting events are assigned only to governments that deserve the honour of hosting them.

“Ecclestone is brilliant and has made formula one what it is, but he can’t administer races at any cost and above all else,” insisted the Italian.

Due to security fears, Force India sat out a practice session on Friday so that staff could return to their hotels in daylight.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was reportedly enraged, and according to rumours got his revenge by instructing Formula One Management’s television cameras to ignore the Silverstone based team’s cars in qualifying.

“There was a bit of fuss about what we did,” deputy team principal Bob Fernley is quoted by Spain’s AS newspaper, “and it was not easy, but I think it turned out to be the right response.

“We had a lot of pressure, our attitude was not well received,” he confirmed, “but I think that we had a duty of care to our employees, and to do the right thing by the team.”

Red Bull is ready to start bouncing back from a difficult start to 2012.

That is the claim of the energy drink owned team’s racing consultant Dr Helmut Marko, who acknowledged that Australia and Malaysia was not a good start to the campaign for a third-consecutive championship-winning season.

Comparing the reigning world champions with McLaren, Ferrari’s technical director Pat Fry agreed on Tuesday: “I’ve been slightly surprised by Red Bull’s lack of pace.”

Marko acknowledged: “Over the race distance (in Malaysia) we saw that (Sauber’s Sergio) Perez was the fastest,” the Austrian said on Servus TV.

“In wet but also in dry conditions, the Sauber was absolutely the fastest one.

“On the other hand, the whole package did not come together for us,” Marko insisted, referring specifically to bad pitstops, and broken radios.

“There are so many things that have to come together. But we have a plan for how to deal with it for China, to solve our problems.

“I’m confident that we will get it back together sooner or later.

“It makes things of course more exciting, although not quite as easy for us,” he smiled.

Dr Helmut Marko has admitted Red Bull has work to do in order to return to the front in formula one.

Having dominated F1′s recent history, the energy drink owned team is now behind McLaren in the constructors’ standings after two races in 2012, while its highest placed driver is Mark Webber in fourth.

Austrian Marko, the motor racing advisor to Red Bull mogul Dietrich Mateschitz, insisted that Adrian Newey and his technical team have built a good car for 2012.

“But it doesn’t help,” he told Salzburg television channel Servus TV, “if we are the fastest only in certain conditions, rather than consistently.

“To tell you the truth, at the moment it’s almost as though the car decides when it is the fastest, and when it is not,” Marko said during the ‘Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar-7′ programme.

The outspoken manager also vigorously defended Sebastian Vettel in the wake of the Narain Karthikeyan affair, after Red Bull’s world champion lost his temper with the HRT driver following a clash in Malaysia.

Marko firmly pointed the finger at F1′s backmarkers.

“We have told our team manager to talk to both Marussia and Hispania about getting their drivers to simply pay more attention,” he said.

“They are driving in another league, they’re six or eight seconds slower, and so they need to watch out more than they do.

“They are 12 points Vettel lost that could be crucial in the world championship,” added Marko.

He also fended off the claim that Vettel’s behaviour in Malaysia, featuring the display of middle fingers and calling Karthikeyan an “idiot”, was not worthy of a role model.

“You’ve just been in a race, you’ve seen the chance of possibly a third place go away — you’re naturally upset because he’s a human as well.

“I think we can understand an emotional reaction,” added Marko.

 With the 2012 season now looming, Dr Helmut Marko has admitted Red Bull is “slightly ahead” of its rivals.
February’s official testing season is over, leaving competitors and pundits to predict the likely pecking order less than two weeks before the Melbourne grid forms.

“I see it like this,” Red Bull consultant and driver manager Marko told Austrian television Servus TV.

“We are slightly ahead, then there are McLaren and Mercedes — I don’t know exactly, but not far away,” he said.

On the other hand, Marko said Ferrari does not appear an immediate challenger.

“At Jerez, their car was very bad. It has improved since then, but as we speak, Ferrari, I believe, are not in a position to go onto the podium,” said the Austrian.

 Two young chargers are waiting in the wings, but Mark Webber insists he intends to extend his formula one career beyond 2012.
Among the top names at Red Bull, however, the Australian veteran is the odd one out, with only a one-year contract in his pocket.

At the same time, the energy drink company has appointed two young rookies – Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne – to its junior team Toro Rosso.

“Obviously there is probably a chance with Red Bull, but at the moment I don’t want to look too far ahead,” said Frenchman Vergne this week at Jerez.

Webber will turn 36 this year, but he told Austrian Servus TV he sees himself on the grid “for many years” to come.

“The feeling I had in Australia (over the winter) was the desire to come back here and drive the car,” he said.

Nevertheless, the big rumour is that Dr Helmut Marko – the Red Bull driver manager – decided to appoint Ricciardo and Vergne so that he can assess which one will be Sebastian Vettel’s teammate in 2013.

“I can’t do anything about the rumours — I remember I was going to be replaced way back in 2008. That’s just formula one,” said Webber.

Red Bull’s 2012 car will “surprise” the F1 paddock, its famous designer Adrian Newey has been quoted as saying by a Finnish newspaper.
Already this week, Ferrari’s chief designer Nikolas Tombazis has revealed that next year’s single seater is “fairly different” to the current 150 Italia and could provoke a “wow factor” when it is launched.

But the same is also true of Newey’s RB8, according to Turun Sanomat newspaper, despite the current Red Bull being an evolution of the 2009 concept.

Blown diffusers aside, the rules are staying essentially the same in 2012 but Newey has “revealed that next year’s RB8 will amaze everyone”, correspondent Heikki Kulta wrote.

“When he was asked what about it is so surprising, he replied that if he revealed that now then it would no longer be a surprise.”

Even team boss Christian Horner apparently knows very little about the 2012 Red Bull.

“So far he (Newey) has only told me that it’s going to be blue,” he joked, according to Die Presse.

Dr Helmut Marko said on the Servus TV channel this week that the 2011 car will feature some new parts in Japan this weekend.

“What we learn can be used for the new car in 2012,” said the team advisor. “We want to come back with a clear lead for the first race of the season.”

But before the full focus turns to 2012, Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel need to mathematically conclude their 2011 title triumphs, and Newey insists there is no celebrating yet.

“We still have not won anything,” the Briton said ahead of Suzuka, where Vettel needs only a single point to secure his second drivers’ title.

Horner however insists the team will not be on ‘cruise and collect’ in Japan.

“We are not looking at the one point but the (maximum) 43,” Kleine Zeitung quotes him saying.

As for the future, Horner insists he can live with the constant sniping about Red Bull’s approach to F1 rules and financial agreements.

“We take it as a compliment,” he said. “We have shown that what we have achieved was no fluke.

“Ferrari and McLaren were sworn enemies for twenty years, yet now they are united against us.”

Red Bull could lose up to five tenths of a second per lap when the exhaust blowing clampdown takes effect at Silverstone next weekend.
But team boss Christian Horner has thrown a cat amongst the pigeons by saying on Austrian television Servus TV that, until now, the RB7 has only been benefitting from “cold blowing”, not the “hot” concept that is so effective when the drivers are off the throttle under braking and in corners.

“In our case, this (effect) happens only with cold-air blowing. Other teams blow hot air and get even more benefit,” said the Briton.

If true, Red Bull’s key rivals might fall even further away from the pace of the dominant RB7 in Britain and beyond.

“How this affects us compared to the others, we will only see at Silverstone. According to our simulation it’s as much as 3 to 5 tenths and perhaps a bit more with some other teams,” said Horner.

Former F1 driver Karl Wendlinger said: “I believe Red Bull’s superiority will be greater at Silverstone. The (exhaust) system is being banned for all but Adrian Newey is a genius in aerodynamics and this is very important at Silverstone.”

But McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa told EFE news that “nobody has the foggiest idea” how precisely the field will line up in Britain.

“It will have a strong impact and the cars will be slower because of the lost downforce,” he said.

“There is a ray of hope, as we all know which car was the pioneer of the technique and have been able to maximise the performance better than anyone else,” said the Spaniard, presumably referring to Red Bull.

At least Timo Glock is aware of the effect that the clampdown will have on his struggling Virgin car.

“We have never benefitted from this technology, so for us, everything stays the same,” the German told Auto Motor und Sport.

Karl Wendlinger insists it is “hard to imagine” that Red Bull has ruled out the possibility of deploying a team strategy at the final two races of 2010.

Following suggestions Sebastian Vettel might play a supportive role to boost teammate Mark Webber’s chance of winning the drivers’ title, Red Bull bosses insisted the pair will enjoy strict equality in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

But according to Austrian Wendlinger, a former Sauber driver, it is “difficult to imagine” that Red Bull has “totally ruled out” the concept of using team orders.

He also noted on Austrian television Servus TV that Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has confirmed that if there is a lack of spare or new parts in Brazil, it will be Webber who is offered them first.

That is a “psychological advantage” for the Australian, Wendlinger said.

“He (Webber) knows he is better placed in terms of points and that the team wants one of its drivers to be world champion,” he added.

Niki Lauda reinforced the view that “intelligence is not the same as team orders”.

He was very critical of Ferrari’s infamous strategy at Hockenheim, but insists that Red Bull should now be fully behind Webber.

“I’ve never said anything about (Red Bull using) team orders. Just that they have to be sensible,” the triple world champion told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

“What Ferrari did at Hockenheim for example was an affront to the spectators.”

When asked if that means, for example, that Vettel should not try to overtake Webber at Interlagos this weekend, he answered: “Exactly. But this is nothing to do with team orders.”

Fernando Alonso is in the same league as two of F1′s greatest recent champions, according to Gerhard Berger.

“There are sometimes those special drivers: Ayrton Senna was one, Michael Schumacher was one, and Alonso is one,” said the Austrian and former grand prix winner.

Berger is uniquely placed to compare Ferrari’s Spanish driver with those greats — he was one of Senna’s closest friends, having raced alongside the late Brazilian at McLaren in the 90s.

And he was a contemporary of Schumacher’s during the seven time world champion’s first F1 career, moving away from Ferrari to make room for the German, and then replacing him for the 1996 season at Benetton.

“They are drivers who can win world championships without having the absolute best car,” Berger told Austrian television Servus TV.

Gerhard Berger has accused Mark Webber of wanting to take out a championship rival after crashing in Sunday’s Korean grand prix.

Australian Webber, who at the time was leading the world championship by 14 points, spun on a wet kerb whilst running second at Yeongam and struck the wall.

But his Red Bull then rolled back across the circuit, collecting the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.

“I don’t understand why Webber didn’t hit the brakes,” said Rosberg. “It was crazy to roll back across the track like that.”

Former grand prix winner Berger said on Monday: “He could have hit the brakes and stopped the car at the wall.

“He took out Rosberg, but it was the wrong one. I think in his mind he would have preferred Alonso or Hamilton,” the former Ferrari and McLaren driver told Austrian Servus TV.

Asked to clarify whether he thinks Webber’s move was deliberate, Berger – a former co-owner of the second Red Bull team Toro Rosso – added: “Yes, I think that’s very clear.

“He goes off and he knows it’s over. In this moment you’re frustrated and a thousand thoughts go through your head.

“It’s very obvious, you can see his wheels are not locked up. Perhaps he had a brake problem, but I don’t think so.”

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.