07/06/2010
NEWS STORY
In the wake of the incident during the Turkish Grand Prix, and subsequent fall-out, Sebastian Vettel has denied that there is favouritism within the team.
In the aftermath of the race, both team boss Christian Horner, and advisor Helmut Marko, suggested that Mark Webber bore the bulk of the responsibility for the clash which cost the Australian the win and eliminated his teammate. And while the Austrian outfit worked hard to limit the damage, there was further speculation in the media suggesting that the team had attempted to engineer the result, effectively ordering Webber to defer to his German teammate.
However, in the wake of last week's peace summit and the news that Webber has agreed a one-year extension to his contract, Vettel has denied that the team is biased in his favour.
"What we have been discussing internally is neither driver is favoured in any way," he told BBC Sport. "We go out and try to find out who is the better one, like it should be."
Referring to the accident, the German said: "It all happened fairly quick. I got a very good run out of corner leading on to back straight, got a good tow. Then I was going on the inside. I had already passed Mark and then tried to come slowly back to the right. At that time I was the leading car and then usually the leader dictates when to go. We made contact and that was the end of the race for me."
Asked why he subsequently gesticulated, suggesting that his teammate was crazy, Vetrtel said: "I think it was pretty clear at the time. I don't think it was a crazy sign. I think it's very common. I think everyone understood."
When asked if he might do things differently should a similar situation arise again, he replied: "It's always the question, you never know what is going to happen. You do at the time what you think is right, and in that case you would do it again because you thought it was right. No matter how is the outcome, you will always learn something.
"Any racing driver who finds himself in second and thinks he is faster and stronger than the guy in the lead and gets the chance - it's not like you get a million chances - would do the same," he continued. "I used my chance and unfortunately I didn't see the chequered flag. I lost a lot of points. It's not a good thing to have a DNF down in the championship. But with the new system it sounds lot of points you are behind but one result can make a big difference."