Sebastian Vettel needs to accept the reality of a number 2 role for the good of Red Bull’s 2010 title chances.

That is the claim of former triple world champion and outspoken commentator Niki Lauda, following reports the young German is reluctant to give up the chase for his first title in deference to the team’s points leader Mark Webber.

The news also follows boss Christian Horner’s insistence that the team will “support both (drivers) equally” in Brazil and Abu Dhabi “in line with Red Bull’s credible sporting ethos”.

But with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leading the championship and fully backed by his teammate Felipe Massa, Lauda said Red Bull’s policy is a road to failure.

“Red Bull needs to establish the team hierarchy now,” the great Austrian is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“If they don’t get behind Mark Webber, they may have to go without the title.”

Lauda’s only concern is that the exercising of team orders within Red Bull is done in a way that does not “cheat the spectators”.

Jos Verstappen, who in the mid-90s at Benetton was Michael Schumacher’s number 2, agrees that Vettel should be playing that role now.

“Purely mathematically, he has a chance to be champion. But as a team they really have to put everything behind Webber.

“He (Webber) has a better chance of winning the title,” the Dutchman wrote in his column for De Telegraaf newspaper.

“Of course it’s a difficult position for Red Bull, as the whole world knows who they would prefer to be in the best position.

“It’s unfortunate for Vettel, but with his engine failure in Korea his championship did literally go up in smoke,” added Verstappen.

But Horner sounds unlikely to have a change of heart, telling the BBC he finds it “frustrating” that 7 points of leader Alonso’s 11 point lead was due to inheriting the German grand prix win from his teammate Massa.

“It (losing the title to Alonso) would be frustrating because we’ve obviously worked under the auspices that team orders have been illegal,” he told BBC radio.

Even if Fernando Alonso wins the 2010 world championship, his Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa will not be relegated to a full-time supportive role next year.

That is the claim of the famous Italian team’s boss Stefano Domenicali, even though Brazilian Massa was playing a subordinate role to Alonso’s title push even before his own title chances were mathematically over for this season.

Domenicali said Ferrari drivers race primarily in the interests of the Maranello based team.

“Our drivers have to know what is in the interest of the team,” he said in an interview with the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

“I can confirm that Felipe will be able to start from scratch in 2011, but always knowing that Ferrari is the most important,” added Domenicali.

He denied that Massa’s problems have only been about Bridgestone’s tyres in 2010.

“I trust him completely and want to make clear that he is a great team player and a great driver,” said the Italian.

“I think that when you do not have a perfect season, you have to look at yourself and react. Felipe knows that the team is with him. He knows we are here to make him the best driver he can be.

“I don’t think his performance is related only to the tyres. We have to put all the pieces together and try to understand the reasons for him not having the best possible season,” added Domenicali.

Felipe Massa’s engine usage for the 2010 season ticked over to a ninth unit in Singapore, resulting in a grid penalty.

That news alone could be interpreted as a potential threat to the title chances of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who is now just 11 points behind leader Mark Webber having won the past two races from pole.

Like Massa, Spaniard Alonso entered the Singapore round having used eight engines, the maximum allowed during the entire 19-race schedule this year.

But Brazilian Massa’s ninth engine was only installed in Singapore due to his technical problem in qualifying that stranded him at the very rear of the grid.

The necessary gearbox change resulted in a five-place grid drop, but Massa could not be pushed down the order lower than dead last.

So the Italian team also decided to install a new engine in his F10 – resulting in another negated grid penalty, this time 10 places – before the race.

A spokesman for the Italian team confirmed that the change was “entirely precautionary”.

Massa said: “Now I only have three left which have each done one race, to rotate over the last four races of the season.”

Felipe Massa furrowed his brow in Singapore when an Italian journalist dared to ask about the health of his world championship chances.

Brazilian Massa is mathematically still in the title chase, but the media is billing 2010 as a five-way contest between his Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull and McLaren drivers.

29-year-old Massa is increasingly seen as a bit-part to number 1 Alonso’s push.

So when asked by the Italian journalist about his chances, Massa angrily reacted: “On some questions, you could probably think of the answer.

“But I will say it again.  The world championship for me is over.”

Massa started from the rear of the grid in Singapore due to a gearbox failure in qualifying, but Brazilian journalist Livio Oricchio was unimpressed with his performance under the floodlights.

“He stayed behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams most of the time,” he wrote in his column for Jornal da Tarde.  “But Massa has the same car as (race winner) Alonso.

“Ferrari can be accused of having team orders, but not of giving its two drivers different cars.

“Alonso proved that the car is very fast.  But we didn’t see a single attempt from Massa to overtake his opponent, even when his tyres were new.

“What we’re seeing is a disproportionate difference in competence between the two Ferrari drivers,” charged Oricchio.

The press was also hard on Lewis Hamilton, who for the second race in a row retired due to a collision.  The Mirror said: “Lew blew it … again”.

But Hamilton vowed to stay aggressive.

“It’s the way I am,” he said in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.  “That’s me, and I think this aggression is my main strength.”

Mark Webber extended his championship lead to 11 points on Sunday night, despite finishing on the lowest step of the podium and colliding with Lewis Hamilton during a long and hot Singapore grand prix.

The Australian finished behind pole sitter and winner Fernando Alonso, as well as his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel.

At the chequered flag just before the 2 hour time limit was up, Ferrari’s Spaniard and German Vettel were separated by just 3 tenths of a second.

But Vettel’s points gap to Webber, who was a further half minute behind the leading battle at the finish, is still more than 20 points.

Webber’s closest challenger is now Alonso, who has won the last two races from pole position in the resurgent Ferrari.

He leapfrogs Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, after the Briton retired for the second race in a row due to a collision.

This time his clash was with Webber, whose RB6 was sporting significant damage to its wheel and tyre in parc ferme after the race.

Hamilton’s MP4-25 came off worse, and he came close to writing off his title chances after retiring at mid-distance.

“Let’s just hope myself or Jenson can do it,” said the 2008 world champion, who remains five points ahead of teammate Jenson Button’s sister car.

“20 points is massive and with four races to go that is a big gap,” Hamilton told reporters.

Button confirmed: “There is everything to play for.”

With five races to go, Sebastian Vettel is not giving up on winning the 2010 world championship.

His teammate Mark Webber is 24 points further ahead and narrowly leading the drivers’ standings over Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko hinted recently that the team should sit down after Monza to assess its championship chances, amid light pressure from Webber to be appointed number 1.

But Vettel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper: “We are not panicking. We are quietly doing our work.

“I believe in the title — that is the most important thing. It will be very close in the finale, but I’m optimistic,” said the German.

He dismissed the argument that his 24 point deficit to Webber is insurmountable.

“Whether it’s 24, 25 or 30, it doesn’t matter,” said Vettel, 23.

“The new points system worries people more than it should. Now there are 25 points for a win, so under the familiar (old) system, I’d only be 8 or 9 points behind.

“Then it would seem much less dramatic,” he insisted.

Australian Webber, however, is open to having Vettel relegated to a supporting role for the final run to the 2010 finish-line.

“It would be a nice problem for me to have and then it’s up to the team as to what’s the best way for them to win the championships,” he said in an interview with BBC Sport.

“It’s definitely not for me to answer that one,” said the 34-year-old.

McLaren’s Hamilton, however – just 5 points behind Webber’s lead and 17 in front of his teammate Jenson Button – is not expecting to be favoured by McLaren.

“The best driver will win the day,” said the 2008 world champion.

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.

Sebastian Vettel should not have been penalised for losing control at Spa-Francorchamps.

That is the opinion of an unlikely supporter of the 23-year-old Red Bull driver: Marc Gene.

Spaniard Gene is Ferrari’s occasional test driver, who said the drive-through penalty after Vettel crashed into Jenson Button on Sunday “was totally disproportionate”.

“It is true that he was too aggressive, but for there to be a penalty … he did nothing wrong, it was an incident of the race,” Gene wrote in his El Mundo newspaper column.

Niki Lauda’s is a harsher critique, predicting that one more mistake for the young German will end his 2010 title chances.

“You’re an absolute super-talent but you’ve taken excessive risks,” the former triple world champion wrote in Bild newspaper.

“One more mistake and your world championship will be over. Then you will have to drive for your teammate, which would be the ultimate penalty,” said Lauda.

He thinks Vettel is struggling with the pressure.

“You’re in the fastest car,” Lauda said, addressing Vettel personally. “The pressure can be paralysing, because everyone expects you to be in front and everything else is a disappointment.”

Lewis Hamilton, who according to British commentator Martin Brundle is driving better today than in his championship year in 2008, said Vettel’s lack of experience is showing.

“The older I get, the more I understand about experience. Mark (Webber) is a very mature man and that definitely helps,” said the McLaren driver.

David Coulthard advises his Red Bull successor Vettel to get used to the criticism, observing that “the knives seem to be out for him” now.

“I want to make it clear I am not trying to excuse Sebastian’s recent high-profile errors,” he wrote in the Telegraph.

“I see a young man who is suffering from his first spell of growing pains,” added the veteran of almost 250 races.

“I am not excusing them (the mistakes) – as I have said before, F1 is no finishing school – I’m just saying they are understandable,” said Coulthard.

Although we will not successes, Mercedes continues to focus on the current cars and does not focus exclusively or even to 2011. The team led by Ross Brawn had in 2008 decided early on to go back to the weak development of the Honda, and to focus on the upcoming season. With success, for there were both won World Cup titles. But unlike today, the rules were then already in place. Currently, there are officially in the coming year still no tire manufacturer and is about the return of the KERS energy recovery system and an adjustable rear wing still spoken.

In addition, says an old Formula 1 Wisdom: If you do not understand the problems on the current cars, it does not help to incorporate these difficulties in the coming model. Therefore, the Mercedes team is working feverishly to close the gap to McLaren and Red Bull. “I think every team is already thinking about the car for 2011, but we want to achieve with the current model, some important improvements,” Brawn says to ‘Autosport’.
“In the second half of the season, we must then consider our position. We hold nothing back on the engine. A little bit of focus but we have to next year,” the team boss. The riders start in 2011 but already think. Michael Schumacher said after Montreal that his title chances this season would be virtually over, and his focus shifts to the coming year.

(TMS)