Red Bull Racing has explicitly told its drivers not to allow their crash in the Turkish Grand Prix have a destabilising effect on the team’s title bid.
The warning comes from team principal Christian Horner, who will undoubtedly play a central role in making sure that the conflict is resolved.
On Lap 40 of the race team-mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel collided while out in front – with the latter being forced to retire. Subsequently, neither driver accepted responsibility for the incident and pointed the finger squarely at the other – dividing many within the team itself.
Furthermore, the matter was complicated by suggestions in the media and by fans that in the immediate aftermath of the incident Red Bull’s demeanour was more favourable towards Sebastian Vettel.
Subsequently, Horner has vowed to settle the issue as quickly as possible and to not let it disrupt the team’s championship challenge.
“The most important thing, and I have had this situation before with drivers in different formulas, is to get issues out into the open, deal with them and that is exactly what we will do here,” Horner told Autosport.com
“There is no animosity between the drivers. They are both competitive. They are both hungry animals, and it is down to us to ensure that they learn from this and it doesn’t happen again.”
Horner believes that both drivers must learn for the incident and realise that their actions also ruined the efforts of the entire team.
“I think both drivers will look at it, they will reflect on it, and it is important they learn from it,” he said.
“They represent a whole team and Red Bull when they are out their driving, and they know that what has happened has cost not only themselves but the team, and Red Bull, a lot of points.”
