KUALA LUMPUR — Sebastian Vettel has apologised to Red Bull teammate Mark Webber for passing him against team orders to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.
BBC Sport
The Red Bull drivers were told to hold station, with Webber ahead, after their final pit stops, but Vettel ignored the call and overtook the Australian to win.
“I messed up. I would love to come up with a nice excuse or a nice story, but I can’t. That’s the truth,” Vettel said.
“I can completely understand Mark’s frustration and the team not being happy.”
During the race, which Webber led from lap six, Vettel repeatedly went on the team radio to ask Red Bull to make Webber move over for him.
“Mark is too slow — get him out of the way. He is too slow,” he said at one point.
The team also repeatedly warned him to maintain a gap to Webber. While Vettel was aggressively trying to pass Webber after their final pit stops, team principal Christian Horner went on the radio to say: “Seb, this is silly.”
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But Vettel continued to attack and in the end Webber appeared to cede the position to the German, who passed him around the outside at Turn Four with 13 laps to go.
“After the last stop the team told me the race was over and we turn the engines down. Teams are limited to eight engines per season and go to the end.
“The team made their decision. Seb made his own decision and he will have protection as usual,” Webber added.
