Olivier Panis would have “acted like Vettel” in Malaysia

On the eve of the Chinese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel revisited the controversy over team orders, which he had not complied with, stating that he would not apologize for winning the Malaysian Grand Prix and acknowledging that he had judged, in good conscience, that Mark Webber did not deserve for him to respect the team’s orders.

Far from blaming the German driver, Olivier Panis believes that too much fuss was made over nothing, during an interview with *RMC*: “If I were Vettel, I would do exactly the same thing! Having team orders by the second Grand Prix, I find that unacceptable! If Webber agrees to listen… Fine. But nothing shocks me about what Vettel did. These drivers are paid for a job, they are employees who are there to win or achieve the best possible results.”

The former Ligier driver, and the last French driver to have won a Grand Prix, believes that in the absence of team orders, victory was out of reach for the Australian anyway and insists that Formula 1 should maintain its sporting dimension: « We’re not here for that, and sport must remain dominant. What Vettel did, to me, is sport. He fought, he won, end of story. If you really look at the race, Webber didn’t have the tire strategy that Vettel had, so he couldn’t win. Mark is a really great guy, and he hasn’t always played by the rules either. It’s part of racing, and the best wins. How can you tell a guy who is faster than another to stay behind for the last 15 laps? We must stop! »

And the Lyonnais concluded by admitting that he would have acted like the three-time German world champion if he had been in his position: « If I hear the order, my radio might suddenly break… It’s personal what I say, but I would have acted like Vettel. When you have the car to win a race, you can’t miss out on a victory. »