Vettel is said to have disobeyed Red Bull

The end of Sebastian Vettel’s race was marked by confusion. Indeed, shortly after being forced to pit to change his damaged left rear tire from contact with Narain Karthikeyan as the latter was being lapped, several radio communications were heard by the German and the Grand Prix viewers: first asking the double world champion to pit, then telling him to stay out, and finally instructing him to pit again. At this point in the race, he was out of the points, in eleventh position.

The German newspaper Bild throws a small stone into the pond by claiming that Vettel did not follow Red Bull’s instructions. This supposition is based in particular on the fact that the driver was ordered to stop both via his radio and especially through the board located on the pit wall. Several photographers present confirmed that the instruction was indeed written on this famous board. This version would counteract the explanation provided by Christian Horner, who highlighted a radio malfunction to explain Vettel’s failure to stop.

According to Bild, the team’s interest in bringing in their number 1 driver would have been to change the gearbox of the RB8 for the next race in Shanghai. When asked about this moment at the end of the Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel replied: “Obviously you can spare the car, but I wanted to see the checkered flag. I think that’s how it was meant to be.” These comments suggest that if indeed he was given the order, his will was quite different. Christian Horner, for his part, was not very forthcoming: “We will talk about it.”

Vettel is indeed expected at the team’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, Great Britain, at the end of next week to conduct a few simulator sessions.