My preference would be for anyone OTHER than RBR, otherwise you’ll spend your career as second fiddle.

Helmut Marko believes that Daniel Ricciardo has what it takes to partner Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull.

Horner defends himself against his conspiracy critics.

Horner, though, is adamant that despite Webber’s numerous problems, which came on the back of the team’s Malaysian controversy, there is no conspiracy against the 36-year-old.

“It’s complete rubbish, forget conspiracy,” said the Red Bull Racing team boss.

“We’re all about trying to get two cars to the finish as high as we can.

“Anybody who thinks there is a conspiracy here against either driver does not know what they are looking at.”

Fine then, but it is obvious that both Red Bull cars are not the same and at times RBR has been actively working to ensure that Vettel finishes ahead of Webber, such as using pit undercuts.

After running faster than Vettel in Q1 of the Chinese GP, Webber had fuel issues in Q2 which forced him to pull over. The exact issue is still unclear. Either no fuel or lack of fuel pressure. Last season Webber had mechanical issues in the first three races, this time in 2013 is running 2 out of 3 for issues.

Conspiracy? What is clear is that both Red Bull cars are not the same. Although I can just imagine Marko going epiplectic at the thought of Webber out qualifying Vettel.

UPDATE

The 36-year-old only had 150ml fuel left in his tank and Red Bull said “a fuel bowser problem caused an incorrect fuel measurement to be delivered to Mark’s car”.

Great way to make enemies.

Sebastian Vettel has taken a hardline approach to the Malaysian GP controversy, saying he’s “probably” do it again….

“He didn’t deserve it.

“There is quite a conflict, because on the one hand I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and the other hand, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it at the time.”

Webber ultimately obeyed team orders when asked by RBR in the past. I guess Vettel plays by different rules – none, and lies.

Chris Horner is an absolute joke for allowing this disobedience. Or was it all by design anyway so that Vettel could win the Malaysian GP?

This time it is real. RBR and the F1 establishment favours Vettel and will do whatever it takes to get him across the line.

“After speaking with Christian, it seems Mark was told to turn down the wick on his engine, but the team didn’t tell Sebastian to do the same thing,” Bernie Ecclestone told the The Mail on Sunday.

Red Bull have confirmed the F1 supremo’s claims.

Horner claims this was due to different tyre wear; however, that is a complete fabrication. Webber changed his tyres later that Vettel and so they were in better condition. This merely confirms what Webber was saying all along about the engine. Combined with Webber’s extensive history of mechanical problems, it is pretty clear that both RBR cars are not equal. Furthermore, given Christian Horner’s ‘no big deal’ reaction to Vettel’s refusal to follow orders by overtaking Webber, it is pretty clear that Horner takes his marching orders from Marko, et al.

I don’t like team orders myself; however, in overtaking Webber towards the end of the Malaysian GP, Vettel seems to have taken advantage of the naivety of Webber’s mechanic.

Webber, demonstrating much chagrin, acknowledged that it had been a clear case of team orders. “After the last stop the team told me that the race was over and we turned the engines down and go to the end. The team made their decision. Seb made his own decision and he will have protection as usual.”

…Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s head of motorsport and typically a strident advocate of Vettel’s, conceded that the battle had “got out of control”.

Well, if Marko can’t bring himself to support Vettel then I guess I am ready to support Webber.

Vettel also claimed on the radio earlier in the race that Webber was too slow, even though Vettel struggled to get within the DRS zone for the whole race until Webber’s engine was turned down on the expectation of Vettel following orders by maintaining position.

UPDATE

Watson told BBC Radio 4: “If Christian Horner doesn’t reassert his authority in the team – because he has been totally subjugated by Sebastian Vettel yesterday – then his position in the team is not exactly the role it is designed to be.

I was dismayed, as I am sure you were, at Mark Webber’s appalling start to the Melbourne GP after having qualified second. However, I have it from reliable sources that Webber may not have been entirely to blame:

Vettel swiftly pulled clear as team-mate Mark Webber made a poor start from second. The Australian was completely blameless: an ECU problem left him without telemetry during the formation lap, which prevented accurate pre-start preparations and also deprived him of KERS. It would take the team almost 20 laps to sort the glitch, by which time the Australian was well out of sequence with rivals.

Webber’s race engineer has moved to Lotus – obviously couldn’t live with himself having to conduct Helmut Marko’s inspired sabotage at each race.

McLaren says no.

The standard ECU supplied by McLaren Electronic Systems has been revised over the winter and caused some problems during testing.

But McLaren Electonics Systems managing director Peter van Manen said the ECU was not the cause of Webber’s problems:

“There was an issue with Mark Webber’s data system in the garage during the formation lap. The ECU on the car was fine.

Still, Webber had no KERS. Sounds familiar? From 2012:

Today the curse stuck again as Mark’s KERS seized during Q2. So, far from being disappointed with his performance, Mark actually looked pretty relaxed afterwards, having put in a storming lap to get as high as he did.

It was a case of history repeating for Red Bull who suffered the same problem in qualifying for last year’s Australian Grand Prix, though in 2011 the Red Bull KERS had precious little mileage behind it, this year the failure came completely out of the blue.

So that’s three years in a row without KERS in Australia. Webber had KERS reliability issues for the first three races of 2011, as well as for Canada, Spain, Italy and Singapore. In 2012, Webber had KERS issues for Australia, Bahrain, Canada, India and USA. These do not include KERS issues that occurred in practice sessions.

UPDATE

McLaren says yes.

McLaren Electronics Systems, a division of the McLaren Group which supplies standard ECUs to all F1 teams as well as NASCAR and IndyCar, confirmed that a software problem contributed to Webber’s woes.

“The electronic units themselves ran without incident in Melbourne, but there was a software-related issue that meant that Mark Webber’s Red Bull Racing car’s garage data system had to be re-started during the formation lap,” a statement read.

“That disrupted his preparations for the start of the race, for which Mark and the team has our apology.

 

With Bernie Ecclestone facing bribery charges in Germany and possibly jail time, one of his past associates is considering a return to F1.

In 2009, a German automotive supply company, Formtech, claimed it now controls the Brabham team name and filed an official entry for the 2010 F1 season.

But the Brabham family hit back, launching legal action to “protect the family name”.

Jack Brabham’s son David, a sports car racing specialist who contested 30 Grands Prix in the 90s, said: “Right now this is a very sensitive issue.

“But, yes, there is the possibility to bring the team back (to F1),” he told Brazil’s Totalrace.

I don’t think the two events are related, but it would be an interesting development. Seems unlikely in the short-term – Autoblog:

Even after the legal battle is settled, any team or naming rights owner would need to find a team to buy or buy the branding rights to. While a sufficient amount of money can always get a conversation started in F1, there probably aren’t any teams that truly fit either of those profiles right now.

So you can put your throwback blue and white Parmalat jacket away now, at least until 2014.

F1 forums seem excited about the prospect.