Mark Webber has admitted to deliberately ignoring Red Bull’s imposition of team orders in the closing laps of the British grand prix. The Australian revealed that he received four or five calls from his engineer to back away from teammate Sebastian Vettel, before team boss Christian Horner sternly issued the terse order to “maintain your position”. Briton Horner said immediately that while Webber will be frustrated, he “should be fine” with the team strategy. “I am not fine with it, no,” Webber clarified. “I ignored the team as I wanted to try and get another place.” The situation has rekindled memories of last year’s in-fighting about equality between Vettel and Webber, and brought into renewed focus the fact that the latter’s contract is yet to be renewed for 2012. “Well, I cannot change that — that’s part of such actions,” championship leader Vettel told F1′s official website after the Silverstone incident. Asked if the situation might affect Webber’s contract negotiations with Red Bull, Horner – who admitted he was “surprised” with the driver’s attitude – said at Silverstone: “I sincerely hope not. “It’s something he and I will talk about in private,” added the team principal.

Mark Webber has played down the likely impact of F1′s lifting of the ban on team orders.

“People shouldn’t get too nervous about it. They’re not going to see it every weekend,” said the Australian.

Webber was an advocate of a team strategy in Red Bull’s recent championship campaign, arguing that the 2002 ban did not stop orders from being imposed in F1.

The FIA has decided to lift the ban for 2011 after Ferrari’s team strategy at Hockenheim this year showed that enforcement is difficult and controversial.

“I think the Ferrari one was pretty brutal and that’s as bad as it gets,” Webber said on Tuesday on BBC radio.

But as for team orders ‘returning’ next year, he laughed: “Yeah, like they ever went!

“When you’ve got two drivers driving for a team and you can swing the results around every now and again to help the team achieve a better result … it has been done in the past, it’s been done up and down the field.

“I’ve done it myself at times. I’ve been on the receiving end of it and done it as well in teams I’ve driven for in the past,” revealed Webber, 34.

His comments are at odds with the policy of strict driver equality at Red Bull, but Webber insists that his spats were never so serious in 2010 as to cause him to think about leaving.

“I knew as a team we could go through growing pains this year and go forward from it,” said Webber.

“So it never went through my mind that I needed to go somewhere else.”

During the interview, however, Webber did admit that most F1 drivers secretly covet a Ferrari seat.

“I will take each year as it comes,” he said. “Contract time always comes around and you’re either wanted or you’re not. Let’s see what happens in 2012.

“I still need to want to do it. What’s really important is that you finish on top of your game. I don’t want to be beaten by some guys who I don’t think should (beat me).”

Fernando Alonso on Saturday night qualified third for the Abu Dhabi grand prix, but on the pitwall Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo was pumping the air in celebration.

If the Spaniard can just hold position on Sunday, he will win the 2010 world championship.

“We are in a strong position,” he confirmed.

Mark Webber is the big loser of the floodlit qualifying session, only doing enough to qualify fifth and apparently heading for just third in the drivers’ championship.

He positively leapt from his RB6 in parc ferme, got weighed in a hurry and headed straight out for his television interviews, managing to avoid all of his rivals.

“I’m not rapt of course but the fat lady hasn’t sung yet,” said the downbeat Australian.

Despite Sebastian Vettel being on pole position, the session is bad news overall for Red Bull. If the German goes on to win, he will lose the championship by 5 points.

“We got pole but no one else read the script,” said the team on Twitter.

As it stands, Vettel will not be able to deploy a voluntary team strategy during the race, because a couple of McLarens will be in the way — not to mention Alonso.

“I need to do a better job tomorrow,” Webber acknowledged.

Should ‘team orders’ be deployed in Sunday’s 2010 championship finale, one of the stewards may not be voting to penalise the technically illegal practice.

When asked about whether Sebastian Vettel will be asked to move aside to help his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber win the drivers’ title, driver representative Emanuele Pirro said: “They would be fools if they did not.

“We will monitor it and try to assess the situation,” the Roman, earlier accused of being biased in favour of Ferrari, is quoted by La Stampa newspaper.

The key, Pirro said, is the execution of a team strategy.

“There are many ways for a driver to help the other, but it’s perhaps naive to be using coded messages on the radio,” he explained.

Within the paddock, there are few observers who believe a team with drivers in contention for the title should not be allowed to collaborate to prevent a rival team from winning the championship.

So former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi thinks Red Bull have been wrong to suggest that the drivers will be left entirely to their own devices.

“They are trapped because of the way they have discussed it,” he told The National. “They have tried to say they are clean and they don’t do it, but that is misinformation. It is not true.

“They will definitely use it,” insisted the Frenchman.

Ferrari’s team boss Stefano Domenicali also will not be complaining if Red Bull deploy a driver strategy on Sunday, denouncing the team orders saga as “nonsense”.

“There are team orders in formula one because it is a team sport,” he is quoted by Sport Bild.

“The rule cannot be controlled so it should be abolished. And if it is believed that a team has harmed the sport, then section 151 of the Sporting Code still applies.”

Even Red Bull’s Helmut Marko thinks the prohibition of team orders in F1 is wrong.

“The paragraph should be reconsidered,” the Austrian told sport1.de. “Either it is valid and real penalties apply, or we do away with it entirely, which is probably more realistic.”

Sebastian Vettel says thinking about a team strategy this weekend is his third priority at best for the Abu Dhabi season finale.

If – as he did in Brazil last weekend – the German wins on Sunday ahead of his teammate Mark Webber, it will be Fernando Alonso who is crowned world champion.

With ‘team orders’ illegal and ruled out by his employer Dietrich Mateschitz, whether Vettel will voluntarily move over to help Webber win the title is therefore “hotly debated” at present, the 23-year-old admitted.

“Without joking, I am not thinking about it now,” he told Bild newspaper whilst travelling by plane to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

“My first goal is pole position, my second is winning the race. And if necessary I can analyse the situation and decide very quickly,” added Vettel.

The marketing professor at the top Spanish business school IESE thinks Mateschitz’s approach to the 2010 season finale is very clever.

Red Bull car designer Adrian Newey is the latest to weigh in on the debate, insisting that both drivers will have a free run to the title this weekend but hoping that one might be “magnanimous” enough to help the other.

“If they lose the championship, they have not betrayed the values that convey the brand, so Red Bull still wins. They cannot lose,” marketing professor Jose Luis Nueno told El Pais newspaper.

Another global marketing expert, Josep Franch of the ESADE business school in Barcelona, asked rhetorically: “Is if profitable for Red Bull to fail to win in order to defend their ideals?”

Answered Miquel Altarriba, of the Universitat Ramon Llull: “I do not think Red Bull will betray its identity.”

“If they lose with this strategy, it will not work out badly for them,” he thinks.

Niki Lauda has equated Red Bull’s apparent approach to the Abu Dhabi finale this weekend as akin to handing the title to Ferrari.

The energy drink company’s chief Dietrich Mateschitz has been quoted as insisting it is “never a possibility” that Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber will be asked to swap positions.

“It is a sporting choice, but in the end it is (Fernando) Alonso who will laugh,” Niki Lauda, pointing out another 1-2 result with Vettel in the lead this Sunday will result in the Spaniard winning the title, told ORF.

Even Jaime Alguersuari, the Spaniard driving for Red Bull’s second team Toro Rosso, said the use of a team strategy this weekend is “logical”.

“I’d be very surprised if they didn’t (use team orders),” he said on Spanish radio Cadena SER.

Pedro de la Rosa also thinks Red Bull would be mad to give up the opportunity of its first drivers’ crown.

“Everyone can think what they like, it is my opinion that they will (use team orders),” he said.

Ralf Schumacher does not agree.

“I doubt it,” answered the German when asked if he can imagine Vettel pulling over on Sunday.

“It would mean Webber becoming world champion at Red Bull before him, and defeats within your own team never feel good,” he told Bild newspaper.

So while Mateschitz has ruled out team orders, less clear is what the team feels about Vettel making his own personal decision to help Red Bull Racing.

“The drivers race for the team,” boss Christian Horner told Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten .

“Our drivers are team players and know that at stake is the biggest title in motor sport,” added the Briton.

“I don’t think it is a decision I will have to make. Ultimately, if he was in that position, it would be down to Sebastian,” said Horner.

Of course, all the speculation about team orders in Abu Dhabi could prove meaningless given that Fernando Alonso can guarantee a third drivers’ title if he just finishes second.

“The Ferrari should suit the track with its many fast straights,” said former Swiss driver Marc Surer.

De la Rosa agreed: “That is a weak point for Red Bull. It is also why McLaren will be very strong in Abu Dhabi.

“It is a far less suitable circuit for Red Bull than many people seem to believe,” added the Spaniard.

Christian Horner has advised Mark Webber to put his focus back on track.

Red Bull’s team boss admitted he was disappointed and surprised with the Australian’s comments in Brazil, with Webber suggesting it is “f***ing obvious” that Sebastian Vettel receives the bulk of the emotional support despite the points situation.

Speculation is now rife that, despite having signed a 2011 contract, it is likely Webber’s last race in a Red Bull will be next Sunday’s championship finale in Abu Dhabi.

“If I had a message for him, it would be ‘Let’s focus on the racing’,” said Horner. “Let’s get on with it.”

He dismissed the histrionics so far this weekend as “mind games” and a push for a favourable team strategy, but advised Webber to instead work hard to beat his teammate on merit.

“No one wants to be gifted a championship and he owes it to himself to go out and finish the job,” said Horner.

“He has had a great season winning some of the great races, like Silverstone and Monaco, and he needs to focus on redelivering that kind of form.”

The apparent disunity is also a psychological gift to Red Bull’s championship rivals, with Fernando Alonso already admitting this weekend that he is happy with the situation.

And McLaren’s Jenson Button said: “He (Webber) is obviously all over the place after the last race, binning it, and suddenly he’s behind, chasing.

“He hasn’t got the margin anymore and there is a lot going on in his mind, I guess, because of that,” added the defending world champion.

Mark Webber has admitted he has “no idea” whether Red Bull will deploy a team strategy to help him win the 2010 world championship.

Many pundits believe his teammate Sebastian Vettel should now be backing Webber’s campaign to close the 11 point gap to Fernando Alonso with two races to run.

But, at least publicly, team boss Christian Horner insists Vettel will enjoy total equality in Brazil and Abu Dhabi while he is mathematically still able to win the championship.

Asked if he thinks the young German will, for example, try to overtake him at Interlagos this weekend, Webber told the Swiss newspaper Blick: “No idea.

“Up until now no one has spoken about it,” the Australian said in Sao Paulo.

“Perhaps we’ll talk about it at the first briefing on Thursday, or perhaps we won’t,” added Webber.

Former grand prix driver Alex Wurz, who is Austrian like the Red Bull brand, is the latest to advise the team that putting its eggs in the Webber basket is now the smartest strategy.

“They are in a position where they almost have to use team orders — for Webber and against Vettel,” he told Kleine Zeitung newspaper.

But Wurz acknowledged Red Bull’s reluctance, particularly as 23-year-old Vettel is regarded as the darling of the team.

“Webber firstly had to fight for equality this year,” he said. “In the end he imposed it, literally, with his performance.”

Meanwhile, Wurz does not believe Red Bull’s RB6 will enjoy a “mega advantage” this weekend at Interlagos.

“The slow middle sector will be good for Ferrari, and the McLaren will go well in the uphill section of the third sector.

“Then I see Abu Dhabi being Red Bull’s territory,” he added.

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.”

Jenson Button has vowed to push ahead with his charge for the 2010 world championship, despite his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s call for support.

Hamilton said this week that it “would be fantastic” to have the full weight of McLaren’s backing for the last two races of the season, after Button fell 21 points behind him in the drivers’ standings in Korea.

British countryman said initially after Korea that he was no longer a serious contender for the title, but quickly changed his mind to insist that he will keep pushing until “mathematically” he can no longer win.

At the same time, boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted that adopting a team strategy for the last races of 2010 will be discussed “before we get to Brazil”.

Button has now declared: “It (the championship) is a long shot but I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I chose not to go for it.”

“In formula one you … learn early on that it’s not over until it’s over,” he added.

However, championship leader Fernando Alonso admitted he is close to writing off the threat posed now by 30-year-old Button.

“The fact is that are no less than four drivers ahead of him and it’s hard to imagine none of them scoring points,” said the Spaniard.

Gerhard Berger is quite sure Red Bull Racing will not impose teams orders in its final push for the 2010 drivers’ title.

After Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber retired from the recent Korean grand prix, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso drove into a clear points lead.

The situation has sparked speculation that Red Bull must now throw its full weight behind Australian Webber, who has the higher points tally, with young German Vettel to take a reluctant subordinate role.

But Berger, former co-owner of the energy drink company’s second team Toro Rosso and a close friend of Dietrich Mateschitz, does not think Red Bull will take that approach.

“Some of the teams, like Williams or McLaren, operate as a business. In this way it makes sense for them to have a team strategy in order to maximise their championship position,” said the Austrian, referring to F1′s system of revenue distribution.

“But Red Bull has a very different approach, using formula one as a sporting platform to boost its product,” Berger told Austrian television Servus TV.

“And from the sporting approach, the best man wins,” he insisted.

Berger acknowledged the ‘grey area’ of team orders in formula one, such as Ferrari’s escape from the FIA hearing this year with a mere $100,000 fine but 7 additional points for Fernando Alonso.

“Forget grey areas, we’re thinking of morality,” he continued.

“If I know Dietrich Mateschitz, there is no question about the approach. And I think the fans will be grateful. It’s sport.

“It’s not sport however if all year you’re just making tactical moves,” insisted Berger.

Sebastian Vettel sounds unlikely to voluntarily fall in line behind Mark Webber as Red Bull pushes for its first ever drivers’ world championship.

Although heading for the championship lead in Korea before his engine failure, Vettel is now 25 points off Fernando Alonso.

It means Ferrari’s Spanish driver is the favourite for the title, with Vettel’s Australian teammate Mark Webber the most likely challenger due to his 11 point deficit.

But Germany’s Bild newspaper said it sounds unlikely that Vettel is going to give up.

“Nothing is going to change in my approach to the final two rounds,” he is quoted as saying. “My (engine) failure makes everything more interesting and difficult. But it is still possible.

“I am going to fight until the end,” Vettel vowed.

Like McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh who is in a similar situation, Red Bull chief Christian Horner said before leaving Korea that team strategy will be discussed internally before the season’s penultimate event in Brazil.

Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi thinks Red Bull made a big mistake by not establishing a hierarchy some time ago.

“They needed to take advantage of the fact they had the best car,” the Frenchman told CNR Media. “It’s doubtful they will have the same advantage next year, so you have to say they have mismanaged this season.

“I think they’ve missed a great opportunity,” added Alesi.

Joan Villadelprat, a veteran F1 team manager who now operates his own Le Mans team Epsilon Euskadi, agrees.

“There has been a lack of solidarity at Red Bull, who have not been able to manage their superiority and are now giving the title away to Ferrari,” he wrote in his El Pais newspaper column.

“When a double world champion like Alonso takes the kind of advantage he has now, he does not fail,” the Spaniard added.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted it “would be fantastic” to have his teammate’s support in his quest to win a second drivers’ title in 2010.

Fellow McLaren driver Jenson Button is the reigning world champion, but with a bad race in Korea last Sunday his points deficit fell to 42 points with just two races to go.

In the sister MP4-25, Hamilton is 21 points off Fernando Alonso’s championship lead, sparking suggestions the time is nigh for Button to play a Felipe Massa-like supportive role for the rest of the season.

Woking based McLaren, however, operates a strict policy of driver equality, even though boss Martin Whitmarsh said before leaving Korea that a team strategy will be discussed internally “before we get to Brazil”.

When asked about his and Button’s approach with now just the Interlagos and Abu Dhabi rounds to go, Hamilton said: “We both push as hard as we can to score as many points as we can for the team.

“Clearly we’re both far behind, him further than me. I’m 21 points behind, so I’ve got to get a lot of points.

“I don’t know what will happen. You will have to speak to Martin on what he thinks he will have to do.

“All I know is I have to get as high as possible and it would be fantastic to have Jenson with me,” added the 25-year-old Briton.

Button said in Korea that he will only voluntarily fall in line behind Hamilton when he is “mathematically” no longer in the hunt. He also said he is confident he “won’t be asked” to support Hamilton until then.

“Lewis is still very much in the hunt. Mathematically, it’s not impossible for Jenson, but it looks quite tough, very difficult for him,” said Whitmarsh.

The Schumacher brothers are adamant Red Bull must now impose team orders if it wants to win the 2010 drivers’ world championship.

Their young countryman Sebastian Vettel looked set to take the points lead from his Australian teammate Mark Webber, who crashed on the slippery Yeongam circuit, after controlling Sunday’s Korean grand prix from pole position.

But Vettel also retired from the race with an engine failure, leaving him 14 points shy of Webber, who is now 11 points behind new championship leader Fernando Alonso.

With just two races to go, Ralf Schumacher thinks Red Bull’s new strategy should be obvious.

“Now Red Bull need to play a single card; Mark Webber,” the former grand prix winner, in Korea to commentate for German television, is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“Sebastian needs to get as many points as he can, but Red Bull must see to it that Webber gets the title,” Schumacher added.

Reluctantly, because it will be to the detriment of his friend Vettel, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher also said a team strategy must now be taken by Red Bull for the remaining Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.

“I’m sorry for Sebastian,” he told German television Sky. “I have to recall almost a decade ago, when everyone thought we at Ferrari were crazy to be thinking about the championship so early.

“But if Red Bull had done the same, their worry lines would be much smaller now,” added the German.

His reference to “almost a decade ago” must surely be about 2002, when Ferrari was roundly condemned for moving Rubens Barrichello aside so that Schumacher could take maximum points from the Austrian grand prix.

Ferrari implemented a similarly controversial strategy at Hockenheim earlier this year, and on Sunday Fernando Alonso moved to the head of the drivers’ title standings.

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted on Sunday as saying he will not be making Webber the number 1 driver for the rest of 2010.

But he also told reporters at Yeongam: “I haven’t had time to look at all the mathematics and scenarios. It’s something that obviously we will look at pretty closely between now and Brazil.”

Vettel, however, made clear he is not personally ready to give up, even though his engine failure seriously dented his charge in Korea.

“It is very significant for the championship situation, but I am the last to give up,” German media quote him as saying.