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[racechick]

I think Vettel did the dirty on Webber. Webber had turned his engine down as he was told to and thought that Vettel would stay behind him - naughty, naughty Seb

I think Mercedes really shafted Nico, and Lewis knew that. Nico had the fuel to get 3rd place but Lewis Hamilton on the podium in the "home" race would be a sponsors dream. Too bad it turned out to be a nightmare! Lewis has disappointed me with some of the silly comments and tweets he has made in the past but yesterday he went way back up in my estimation. I know that he knows he did not deserve the podium. Kudos to Mercedes and the drivers, but we all know where Nico is now - Number Two.

Nico had plenty fuel and could have been there had the Red Bulls taken each other out, or taken one out, or damaged one. Lewis could not have done anything but Nico might have been able to take advantage. Armchair Team Principle is an easy job

I know Ross Brawn said Nico was saving fuel, but I really dont believe that. We didn't hear it during the race and he had the fuel to get to 3rd. Team orders at their worst for me actually.

Hang on. You can't have this both ways!
" Vettel did the dirty, naughty Seb". For not obeying team orders which called off the fight after the last pitstop

And

"Mercedes really shafted Nico". For calling off the fight after the last pitstop??????

Now which is it? Are you saying Red Bull 's number one driver is Mark? And Seb the number two? Since Red Bull called it off with Mark in front?

Both teams called off the fight after the last pitstop to preserve their engines/ tyres / points. It's normal practise. Nico chose to obey( and I felt for him!) Seb chose not to.

[Hammer278]

Yeah I like how everyone's berating Vettel for disobeying precious team orders, and then berating Mercedes for employing the same orders!!! Pick one or the other for gods sake!

[f1boy]

I think at this stage in a season all teamates should be allowed to race each other.

If we start getting team orders throughout the season, then it will take away some of the excitment. If one driver is miles ahead on points by let's say Monza or Singapore, then the team should get behind that driver, but not a race 2 imo.

[Hammer278]

____________________
German faction sides against Brawn over Rosberg team order
"They should have let him go"

25 March 2013 - 07h45, by GMM
Mercedes’ German-speaking faction has spoken out against the team orders that prevented Nico Rosberg from finishing on the podium in Malaysia.

German Rosberg asked and asked again to be let past his new British teammate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, who was saving fuel to the finish as he ran in third place.

Team boss Ross Brawn answered repeatedly: "Negative."

Afterwards - but before Hamilton admitted on the podium that he was uncomfortable about finishing third - Rosberg told strategist Brawn on the radio to "Remember this one."

It was a saga not unnoticed by Mercedes’ newly-arrived Austrian shareholders and bosses Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff, who were not amused.

"From a sporting perspective, that was wrong," Lauda told German television RTL.

"They should have let him (Rosberg) go.

"We need to talk to Ross, if this is the strategy to be used from now on," he added.

Wolff agreed: "From a sporting point of view, that’s not what we want to see."

Brawn, whose role as team boss is believed threatened by the Austrian duo and also the likely arrival of McLaren’s Paddy Lowe, is understood to have defended the ’team order’ on the basis that Rosberg was also low on fuel.

Rosberg denied: "I did not have to save fuel. Everything was alright.

"I will sit down together with Ross to rethink whether this was really the right decision."

The 27-year-old’s rationale is that, with tyres in good shape and fuel in the tank, he might have been able to chase down the leading Red Bulls.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, 1996 world champion Damon Hill agreed: "He might at least have been able to hurry the Red Bulls into a tyre problem."

Rosberg added: "I don’t know if I would have gotten the Red Bulls. But I felt good at the time.

"I was doing well and would have liked to see how far I could have gone."

Justifying his anger on the radio, he explained: "I tried to get them to reconsider their decision."

But Rosberg denied Red Bull figure Dr Helmut Marko’s claim that the episode demonstrates that Lewis Hamilton is Mercedes’ obvious "number 1" driver.

"I can understand how this (episode) creates that impression," Rosberg responded, "but I am sure that if I had been in front, the decision would have been the same."
________________________

This is ridiculous. Is Brawn in charge or not? If he's the team principal the rest should shut the f**k up and live with his decisions. This kind of pulling from different sides is just going to hurt the team, not help it. Why is that loudmouth Lauda even in Mercedes anyway...kick him out already, the guy seems partway senile by most of the stuff he spews out.

[SingaporeSling]

Both teams called off the fight after the last pitstop to preserve their engines/ tyres / points. It's normal practise. Nico chose to obey( and I felt for him!) Seb chose not to.

So which is a smarter move in F1 world ? Give up and be a loyal to the team or fight for your wins no matter what the team says? Based on earlier years it looks like Vettel probably gets better end result of it.

If Nico can keep his position in a later stage of the season for compensation when Lewis is already out of WDC it is hardly gonna make it any better. I hope Nico doesn't turn into next Heikki, whom all like because he's so nice and let's Lewis win. No I don't believe they're there yet, but not allowed to challenge can certainly take the sharpness away from a driver.

Interesting read the inside Mercedes criticism for the decision.

[SingaporeSling]

Yeah I like how everyone's berating Vettel for disobeying precious team orders, and then berating Mercedes for employing the same orders!!! Pick one or the other for gods sake!

Team orders this early are what lame, boring and should not be used. When used we now have prime example what happens; nothing good in either camp. Let the drivers race, do they need protection from team mates? If thats the case how do they dare to challenge competitors?

I think it is more the biased based on languages; English speaking media is likely to criticize Vettel and think orders where ok at both teams. German speaking media the opposite.

Here too people feel for Rosberg and Webber unfortunately those feelings don't give points or championships. So winners JD up being Vettel and Hamilton for the time being at least.

[killem2]

I wonder how much worse this would have been, if it had shifted to a Turkey 2010 issue...

[racechick]

Both teams called off the fight after the last pitstop to preserve their engines/ tyres / points. It's normal practise. Nico chose to obey( and I felt for him!) Seb chose not to.

So which is a smarter move in F1 world ? Give up and be a loyal to the team or fight for your wins no matter what the team says? Based on earlier years it looks like Vettel probably gets better end result of it.

If Nico can keep his position in a later stage of the season for compensation when Lewis is already out of WDC it is hardly gonna make it any better. I hope Nico doesn't turn into next Heikki, whom all like because he's so nice and let's Lewis win. No I don't believe they're there yet, but not allowed to challenge can certainly take the sharpness away from a driver.

Interesting read the inside Mercedes criticism for the decision.

Nico and Lewis were allowed to fight. Nico overtook Lewis twice and Lewis took him back twice. It's was only called off after the last pitstop. And no I wouldn't expect Mercedes to wait until the latter stage of the season before calling off a fight with Nico ahead, I'd expect them to do so at the very next race where that situation occurs.

Yes. I've seen those reports from Germany. I've also seen one where Lauda is slating Vettel for disobeying team orders . So I'm not sure what's going on there. When Toto spoke at the Gp he was happy with the decision. Maybe a bit of misquoting?

[CookinFlat6]

This is ridiculous. Is Brawn in charge or not? If he's the team principal the rest should shut the f**k up and live with his decisions. This kind of pulling from different sides is just going to hurt the team, not help it. Why is that loudmouth Lauda even in Mercedes anyway...kick him out already, the guy seems partway senile by most of the stuff he spews out.

We have always had Mercedes (Daimler) far removed from the actual team, with constant rumblings about not liking this or that, moaning about image etc, and wanting bernie removed because of his court case.
Now we have Toto communicating with the board through Lauda, I think they are just being diplomatic and saying what the board wants to hear, thats Laudas role exactly.

I dont think theres anything anyone can do about changing Ross short of firing him, and if he keeps getting results they cant afford to.

I wouldnt worry too much about it because Toto was happy enough at the race with the outcome.

I am so glad Lewis is with Ross, hopefully Ross now wants to stay because with lewis he can become untouchable and become become indispensable once these results continue. Plus even if there builds an English faction, the most power will be with the driver and boss getting the results

Thats what Ross did at Ferrari, got the German MS and other non Italians in a unit that were producing and then couldnt be touched by the Italian faction

[Hammer278]

Intended for RC: Yeah Toto seemed totally cool when he was interviewed after the GP. So don't know what the heck is going on here...probably some creative word twisting and placing in that article to make it look like war in Merc.

[andrew]

Team orders this early are what lame, boring and should not be used. When used we now have prime example what happens; nothing good in either camp. Let the drivers race, do they need protection from team mates? If thats the case how do they dare to challenge competitors?

I think it is more the biased based on languages; English speaking media is likely to criticize Vettel and think orders where ok at both teams. German speaking media the opposite.

Here too people feel for Rosberg and Webber unfortunately those feelings don't give points or championships. So winners JD up being Vettel and Hamilton for the time being at least.

Yeah team orders this early on are a bit odd.

[1Lemon]

I wonder how much worse this would have been, if it had shifted to a Turkey 2010 issue...

If Vettle took out Webber and himself whilst disobeying team orders, I have a sneaking suspision he wouldn't be racing for Red Bull too much longer, and the Doctor would be well and truly gone.

I'd make a good team principle.

[killem2]

How much power does the pitwall have over the car, electronicaly speaking?

[andrew]

How much power does the pitwall have over the car, electronicaly speaking?

I was under the impression that, if they chose to, someone in the pit garage could turn down the engine.

[Denthúl]

I wonder how much worse this would have been, if it had shifted to a Turkey 2010 issue...

If Vettle took out Webber and himself whilst disobeying team orders, I have a sneaking suspision he wouldn't be racing for Red Bull too much longer, and the Doctor would be well and truly gone.

I'd make a good team principle.

Whilst that's probably what should happen, what you would actually find is that Webber would probably end up being blamed for it anyway, Marko would go on some big rant about how rubbish he is and Horner would give Vettel a hug.

How much power does the pitwall have over the car, electronicaly speaking?

I was under the impression that, if they chose to, someone in the pit garage could turn down the engine.

Nope. They are only allowed to receive telemetry, they can't send any commands back to the cars.