The FIA could sanction F1′s reigning back-to-back world champion for his behaviour during the recent Malaysian grand prix.

Before calling backmarker Narain Karthikeyan a “gherkin” and “idiot” in the wake of their collision, Sebastian Vettel was captured by his on-board camera twice displaying his middle-finger to the Indian driver.

“I think he’s highly frustrated because he’s having a tough season,” Karthikeyan told the Deccan Chronicle on Wednesday.

“It’s completely unprofessional to blame me for the incident. The derogatory remark only goes to show him in bad light.

“Just because he has a good car, he can’t call others an idiot,” Karthikeyan continued.

“I have won races in all the previous single-seater championships I have participated in so I don’t need a certificate from Vettel.”

Reports in Germany, including in the Kolner Express, Bild and Die Welt newspapers, claim that Red Bull driver’s behaviour may have breached the new stricter code of conduct introduced by FIA president Jean Todt.

The FIA has been contacted for comment.

“He has breached the code of conduct,” former F1 driver Marc Surer told Germany’s Sky television. “You sign it when you get the license and then you have to behave correspondingly.

“Any behaviour that hurts other people or the sport is an offense,” added the Swiss.

Asked what the penalties might be, Surer explained: “Anything from a warning to a license revocation. In this case I think it was quite understandable and there will be a mild punishment, if there is anything.”

Hans-Joachim Stuck, however, is slightly less forgiving.

“When you’re overtaking, misunderstandings can occur. I think Vettel needs to learn this.

“With him, the curve was always upwards and now it’s not the case, and he needs to deal with that,” the German legend told the DAPD news agency.

As for Vettel’s description of Karthikeyan as a “gherkin”, Stuck insisted: “It’s better than ‘asshole’.”

Vettel’s attack, however, was sustained, with Kleine Zeitung newspaper now quoting the Red Bull driver as having said: “Maybe formula one is not the place to learn how to drive.”

Stuck responded: “If Sebastian had left more space, it would not have happened. It happens sometimes so it’s a racing incident.

“He (Karthikeyan) didn’t do it on purpose and it always takes two.”

The HRT driver hit back by calling Vettel a “bully”, and even David Coulthard – a Red Bull team consultant – defended Karthikeyan.

“He can’t make his car invisible,” the Scot is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

Also defending Karthikeyan was Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg, who told the Indian press this week: “From what I saw, it was not Narain’s fault.

“So I don’t really understand why he (Vettel) said all that.”

Hukenberg’s Force India teammate Paul di Resta added: “Narain is entitled to do as much on the track in comparison with someone like Vettel.

“Both are F1 drivers and are there to represent their teams.”

As Mark Webber prepares to commit to Red Bull for 2012, team consultant Dr Helmut Marko has given the strongest sign yet that his successor will be another Australian.
Marko reinvigorated the speculation about Webber’s future in Hungary by saying that the 34-year-old is likely to retire after racing one more season.

“Mark Webber will continue with us for another year, and then he will decide what to do in his career,” the outspoken Austrian is quoted by Italian publications including Tuttosport and Corriere dello Sport.

Marko reportedly added that “Red Bull will decide who takes his place, although it is likely it will be (Daniel) Ricciardo”.

He is referring to the 22-year-old Australian who recently made his grand prix debut at HRT with Red Bull backing.

“I thank the guys at Red Bull for the nice words, but it’s still too early to talk about the future,” said Ricciardo.

“I hope there is a chance to race with them, but first I need to beat my teammate Liuzzi, who is a few tenths ahead of me.”

As for Webber’s 2012 deal, he said he is on the verge of making his decision.

“I’ll decide about my future at Spa,” said Webber, referring to the forthcoming Belgian grand prix.

Asked if it is his decision alone, Webber simply answered “yes”, adding that the only thing he is weighing up is “purely my own motivation for racing”.

And as for Ricciardo, Webber told Austria’s laola1: “I think he has a great future ahead of him.”

Team boss Christian Horner has played down reports Red Bull’s Mark Webber could be set to retire next year.
Team consultant Helmut Marko in Hungary told the Australian broadcaster One that 2012 will “probably” be 35-year-old Webber’s last in formula one.

He said Red Bull is therefore looking at “one of our juniors” to replace the Australian for 2013.

Horner however insists Austrian Marko was quoted out of context as he was being interviewed about Webber’s countryman, the Red Bull junior and HRT driver Daniel Ricciardo.

“I think Helmut was probably focusing more on Ricciardo, and these things can obviously get lost in translation,” he is quoted by the Daily Mail.

“Mark could have another two, three or four years in F1. That’s down to him because he is still very competitive, very hungry.”

Reports prior to Hungary had indicated that a new contract for Webber in 2012 was now a mere formality.

“We’re talking about Mark for next year, and I’m expecting him to be here,” confirmed Horner.

“Both sides are keen to continue, so during the next few weeks we will take the opportunity to sit down, and with this break in the championship look at next year.”

After splitting with Nick Wirth, the next rumour at Virgin is that the struggling team is set to move into the former Arrows and Super Aguri facility in Leafield (UK).
Since entering formula one based on the F3 team Manor, the outfit has been located at Dinnington, but with the crucial technical headquarters at Wirth Research in Banbury.

It is rumoured Leafield has been proposed as the ideal base after the Wirth split by team consultant Pat Symonds.

Symonds is the previously highly-respected engineer who was banned from a direct operational role in F1 following the Renault crashgate scandal two years ago.

Virgin Racing chief executive Graeme Lowdon told the Sheffield Star newspaper: “We are always evaluating our options but we have had no discussions with them (Leafield).

“It is way too early to make any decisions on that. We are reviewing everything and looking at what the best solution is going forwards.”

Helmut Marko has scoffed at claims Red Bull is now formula one’s biggest spender.
Some reports have said the energy drink-owned team, who won the championships in 2010 and are tipped to once again set the pace in 2011, spent EUR 300 million on F1 last year.

“Those figures are completely wrong; the truth is less than half of that,” team consultant Dr Marko told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.

The Austrian implied that the false numbers were released maliciously.

“Either someone spread these false figures deliberately, or he cannot read a balance sheet,” said Marko.

He said Red Bull Racing actually ranks as the fourth-highest spender in pitlane, with Auto Motor und Sport claiming the team’s true budget is closer to EUR 160m.

There is some bad feeling in the paddock at present, as Red Bull is accused of breaking the Resource Restriction Agreement last year.

With the disagreement not yet resolved, the team is refusing to agree to a new agreement for 2011.

“We are not opposed to saving, it’s just that it can’t only benefit the teams that are not good enough by only restricting the aerodynamics.

“We say yes to savings, if the engine areas are affected in the same way,” insisted Marko.

He said Red Bull is also opposed to financial penalties being paid to the other teams to “supplement their budgets”, arguing that those found guilty of breaking the agreement should instead pay fines “for the promotion of the sport, or to charity”.

The Red Bull team does not fear straight lines as much as it did earlier in 2010, according to a German media report.

After dominating on the slow, corner-dominated Hungaroring in August, the RB6 was subsequently beaten to the flag at Spa and Monza; circuits punctuated by long stretches of asphalt.

Then, before he dominated at Suzuka, Sebastian Vettel said the Japanese layout was “designed for” the Adrian Newey-penned car, even though the Renault engine was not expected to be strong on the front straight and the long run between Spoon and the chicane.

Team consultant Helmut Marko has been vocally worried about F1′s forthcoming trip to Korea, with the new layout featuring twistier sections separated by some very long straights.

After Mark Webber and the team pulled out leads in both world championships at Suzuka, the Austrian said “we need a cushion, especially for the next race”.

“One of the three long straights (in Korea) is 1.2 kilometres long,” Marko groaned.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, however, the RB6 is now performing better on the straights, thanks to the latest development of the car’s F-duct.

The report said Newey has essentially aped the Renault team’s F-duct solution, and as of Suzuka the RB6 is producing better straight line speed.

“We are no longer losing so much on the straights,” confirmed Vettel.

Mark Webber has vowed to attack at next weekend’s Japanese grand prix.

Red Bull team consultant Helmut Marko suggested on Friday that because the Australian has an 11 point championship lead, “we can be safer and let him drive more defensively” with four races to run in 2010.

But Webber, 34, has indicated he is not planning to take it easy at Suzuka.

“It’s nice that I have a little buffer, it’s not very big but it’s something I would rather have than not,” he said.

“I think we will be very competitive (in Japan); we need to go there and get the maximum out of what we have.

“We still have to go out and give it all we’ve got,” Webber is quoted as saying by Australian publications.

Red Bull’s two drivers will take different approaches to the last four races of 2010, team consultant Helmut Marko has revealed.

Mark Webber is 11 points clear at the top of the drivers’ championship, while his teammate Sebastian Vettel – 21 points further adrift – is also still in the running.

“With Sebastian we will take an aggressive strategy, while with Mark we can be safer and let him drive more defensively,” Dr Marko is quoted by Germany’s Auto Bild.

German Vettel, 23, confirmed that he is not prepared to write off his chances of beating Webber and his other rivals to the title.

“It will be tight but I’m optimistic,” he told the German language TV Movie.

“There are still four races to go; to throw in the towel now would be stupid,” added Vettel.

He said recently that Suzuka, the scene of next weekend’s race in Japan, was “made for” Adrian Newey’s RB6 car.

“We still have to go there and prove it,” said the 2009 winner and pole sitter.

Bernie Ecclestone has tipped Mark Webber to hold on to his championship lead until November’s chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.

“I am a big fan of Sebastian Vettel,” the F1 chief executive is quoted by Express newspaper in Singapore, “but Mark has done brilliantly well and at his age he is so hungry for it.”

Australian Webber, 34, holds a five-point lead over four other title contenders all within a points margin of a single race victory.

“He knows this might be the best chance of his career, maybe the only one, and that makes him very dangerous,” added Ecclestone.

Fernando Alonso is also singling out Webber as a major title contender.

“Mark has surprised everyone,” the Spaniard told Bild newspaper.  “He has been the most consistent of all of us and deserves his lead.”

After the two power circuits at Spa and Monza, Red Bull’s RB6 should be back to top form on the tighter streets of Singapore.

But some figures, notably those at McLaren, are expecting Red Bull’s dominance to have been numbed by the new flexible bodywork tests.

“I know from experience of testing the parts that they had, doing things they were doing, it was worth a lot of time,” said Lewis Hamilton.

“If they have stopped doing it then they will have lost a lot of time.”

But team consultant Helmut Marko warns that the RB6 could actually be faster than ever this weekend.

“We have come with an upgrade package that should make us two tenths faster,” he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

But Webber cannot yet count on the support of his teammate Vettel.

Asked if he is now happy to back the Australian’s championship challenge, the German said in Singapore: “Things can change quickly.  There are no guarantees.

“Mark is in top position now but who knows in a few races’ time.”

Mark Webber has played down suggestions he is asking for his teammate Sebastian Vettel to play a supporting role for the rest of 2010.

At Spa-Francorchamps recently, the Australian suggested that with a growing points gap to his teammate, the time might be nearing for Red Bull to appoint a number one, depending on “how hungry they are”.

Team consultant Helmut Marko then admitted Red Bull will “sit down all together” and “assess our championship chances” after Monza, where the points gap between the drivers became 24 with five races to go.

But Vettel sounded unimpressed at the prospect of a supporting role, insisting that “team orders are banned”.

Webber manager Flavio Briatore’s view is strident, insisting that maintaining parity between the pair is what Red Bull should do “if they don’t want to win the championship”.

Spain’s Diario Sport now quotes Webber as saying: “Help from Vettel? It depends on the team.

“Rest assured I have not asked for anything. It’s the same at McLaren,” said the 34-year-old championship leader.

Sebastian Vettel is worried about the performance of his Renault engine ahead of the Italian grand prix.

The young German was between 2 and 3 kph slower than his teammate Mark Webber in a straight line on Saturday; a handicap described by the Australian as “peanuts”.

But Vettel, having qualified at Monza lower than ever in 2010, said: “Overtaking is going to be very difficult.”

Team consultant Helmut Marko told Bild newspaper: “We do not have a super engine.”

Vettel’s extra speed deficit at Monza is a mystery.

“It was a new engine,” Vettel confirmed, “but it seems not to be as good as we expected.”

He is not sure what he is expecting from the Monza race.

“It’s hard to tell — better than sixth place, I hope,” said the German. “And it’s better that it is Fernando and not Lewis on pole position.”

He vowed to take a normal approach to the start of the race.

“I’m not sure; either I act like a bowling ball and knock everyone out of the way as all the experts expect me to do now, or I will approach the race as usual,” he answered sarcastically.

Sebastian Vettel has rebuked his teammate’s suggestion that the time is nearing for Red Bull to choose a number 1 driver.

Mark Webber, just 3 points off the championship lead with six races to go, is 28 points clear of Vettel in the drivers’ standings.

After finishing second at Spa two weeks ago, the Australian suggested that Red Bull might be wise to favour him if the team wants to win the 2010 title.

But German Vettel, 23, hit back at that plan in an email interview with the Associated Press published on Thursday.

“For a driver this makes no sense — you don’t give up trying to win the championship until it’s mathematically impossible,” he said.

“For the team it makes no sense to favour one if that means penalising the other because you need both drivers scoring maximum points to win the constructors’ championship,” added Vettel.

“With two drivers close in the championship it is too dangerous to choose.”

The bad news for Vettel is that even Dr Helmut Marko, who is thought to get along with the young German more than with Webber, can see that it is in Red Bull’s interests to eventually back the driver with the best championship prospects.

“After Monza we will sit down all together and assess our championship chances,” the team consultant is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

Sebastian Vettel is learning from his mistakes, according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner.

The 23-year-old German’s title chances this year have been dented by a series of setbacks, including driver errors.

The latest was his crash into Jenson Button two weeks ago at Spa-Francorchamps, triggering a wave of criticism about his readiness to be world champion.

“He’s a great driver, but he’s young and not so experienced — he’s learning,” Horner is quoted by the German language Sportwoche.

“What he has to do now is remain calm and focused,” said the Briton, referring to Vettel’s highly competitive car, but 31 point deficit in the drivers’ standings.

Teammate Mark Webber is widely regarded as Red Bull’s less preferred driver, but he has won more grands prix than any other rival in 2010, and is mere points from heading the championship.

“Mark is in the form of his life,” acknowledged Horner.

But he insists that neither Vettel or Webber occupy the role of team number one.

“We definitely favour neither one of them, they both have the same opportunities,” said Horner.

“We try to operate as transparently as possible.”

Red Bull’s other problem is the awkward relationship between the drivers, not helped by perceptions that team consultant Helmut Marko and Webber do not get along.

Australian Webber is believed to be much closer to Horner as well as team owner Dietrich Mateschitz.

Horner commented that it is understandable that he is “not as close with some people in the organisation as he is with others”.

Webber does not hide the fact that Vettel is not his best friend.

“I concentrate on myself and do what I have to do,” he told Austrian television ‘Sport und Talk aus dem Hangar 7′.

“It’s been a positive season for me.  I cannot control Sebastian — he does what he does.  And obviously the team will make decisions in the future,” added Webber.

Rival teams are pointing fingers at Red Bull not only because the RB6 is quick, according to Dr Helmut Marko.

Team consultant Marko, Austrian team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s right-hand man, is referring to the fact that powerful F1 rivals have been complaining all season about the alleged illegality of the Adrian Newey-penned car.

“It is not just our success,” he is quoted by Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

“We have at most the third biggest budget in formula one.  We are a private team, not a car manufacturer, and that hurts them even more,” added Marko.

He said he has “lost count” of the number of legality tests carried out by the FIA that the RB6 has always passed.

“It is continually suspected that our cars are not according to the rules,” said Marko.

“If we put in the same amount of energy on watching what the other teams are doing, as some of the others do, then our car would not be as fast.

“This is just part of the psychological warfare.  We can only take it in our stride,” he added.

Marko also revealed that the men who have contributed to the success of the dominant RB6 are constantly courted by rival teams.

“All of our top talent have long-term commitments, but they’ve all had other offers,” he said.

“Adrian (Newey) could earn more money somewhere else, but it is with us that he can really work freely.  Our philosophy suits him best, the spirit in our team is unique and we are all aimed in the same direction.”

Even though the leads should arguably be much bigger, Red Bull is narrowly heading both championship tables at present.

“There are seven races left,” said Marko.  “It will be crucial to have no failures, because our goal is the world title.

“And we want to maintain this same level for the next five years,” he added.

Dr Helmut Marko has rubbished Mark Webber’s intimation that his teammate is being favoured by Red Bull management.
Although Australian Webber’s statement on Thursday suggested the air has been cleared after Silverstone, team consultant Marko has weighed into the front wing saga.

“If Mark imagines there is a conspiracy between us and (Sebastian) Vettel against him, then he is on the wrong track,” the Austrian and former grand prix driver is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“If I was Vettel, then I would suspect the opposite. Which car has constantly had problems? Did Mark have a defective spark plug, a loose wheel, a broken brake, a defective chassis, a gearbox problem and the broken nose?

“In comparison, Webber has come out with only a black eye.

“Mark is having a great season, and he has improved big team, but he should not forget that he owes a lot to this team. Where was he two years ago? He could not even dream of grand prix wins,” said Marko.

“For us, it really does not matter who is champion, the main thing is that he is sitting in a Red Bull.”

Earlier, Marko defended the decision to give Vettel the newer specification wing that in the pre-qualifying practice session had been fitted to Webber’s car.

“I don’t know what Webber wants,” he is quoted by Auto Bild.

“The driver who got the new wing was ahead in the championship and faster in the third timed practice. It was a very logical decision,” added Marko.