I thought this was interesting in light of Webber moving on to other things in his career and Vettel no longer being at Red Bull. The F1 fans on this forum are (happily) not short of opinions so I'm sure this will generate so good commentary. Enjoy.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-2...ivalry/6578116

Mark Webber says his old Formula One team Red Bull had an agenda to make team-mate Sebastian Vettel happy.

I've just won the previous two grands prix from start to finish and then a new rear wing arrives and goes over to the other side of the garage. And I know for a fact the mechanics were furious.
Mark Webber
Webber and Vettel endured one of Formula One's frostiest relationships as the German driver usurped Webber in the Red Bull hierarchy to go on and win four drivers' championships.

With David Coulthard's retirement, Webber effectively stood as Red Bull's number one driver when a bright-eyed Vettel was promoted from sister team Toro Rosso in 2009.

But, while the relationship between the two got off to a good start, Webber said it soured in 2010.

"I've just won the previous two grands prix from start to finish and then a new rear wing arrives and goes over to the other side of the garage. And I know for a fact the mechanics were furious," Webber told the ABC's Australian Story.

Webber's driving force


Mark Webber credits a diminutive Englishwoman as being the "driving force" behind his spectacular racing career.
"You just think there was a bit of an agenda going on.

"They were very keen to keep [Vettel] probably a little bit happier because again, I was an old dog, I was the guy who was supposed to be a little bit washed up."

Webber's long-term partner and manager Ann Neal said she felt the team was more focused on Vettel.

"We got the impression that Sebastian wasn't happy with how things were going, this old Aussie was beating him and it wasn't really the way it was supposed to be," Neal said.

"They were letting these guys slug it out between them and a lot of the time the focus would come off of Mark. Even if he was leading the championship, winning races, the focus would be off Mark trying to get Sebastian back in to the battle."

However, Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner said it was a difficult situation to manage.

"You are never going to keep both drivers totally 100 per cent happy and sometimes as a team principal you have to make difficult decisions," Horner said in 2010.

Rivalry comes to a head in contentious Malaysia overtake


VIDEO: Webber gives Vettel the finger after Malaysia overtake
He just said that he had massive respect for me as a driver but not so much as a person, so that really affected the relationship. At the time, we could hardly stand the sight of each other.
Mark Webber on Sebastian Vettel
The relationship between the two drivers reached its nadir with the infamous "Multi 21" incident at the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2013.

With Webber in the lead, Vettel disobeyed a team order to maintain position and instead pulled off a risky overtaking move against Webber to win the race.

"The team after Multi-21 were disappointed, no question about it, they were shown how toothless they were," Webber said.

Tale of the team-mates

(Statistics during drivers' careers at Red Bull)

Webber
v
Vettel
129 Races 113
9 Wins 38
41 Podiums 65
13 Pole positions 44
0 Championships 4

Looking back: Vettel and Webber - the rivalry escalates

"They couldn't handle us two out there on the track, which shouldn't be like that.

"[I was] furious with Seb, a little bit. But the whole scenario was just 'how did we get ourselves in that position?'

"It was a pretty brutal press conference after the race and on the podium. We got off the podium and he just came over and said 'we need to talk, I've just ****ed up, ****ed up so bad'.

"I said mate well, let's just talk, let's talk next week."

But the discussion with Vettel went sour.

"I don't know who spoke to him between Malaysia and China but we had a discussion in China and the discussion didn't go well," Webber said.

"He just said that he had massive respect for me as a driver but not so much as a person, so that really affected the relationship.

"At the time, we could hardly stand the sight of each other.

"[Red Bull] just needed something to change so, you know, I helped that decision for them and left."

Neal says Webber copped the blame for Turkey crash


VIMEO: Vettel and Webber crash at 2010 Turkish GP
Webber's first F1 win, in his words

"My first grand prix victory [Germany 2009] was the proudest moment probably in my career.

"For my father to be there for my first win was super emotional.

"It was funny because he had a steak the night before, he lost his front tooth, he said mate you won't believe it, I lost my front tooth, I said whatever, bull****, because he's always, he's a practical joker.

"He said dead set, I've got no front tooth so of all the days he wanted to smile like a Cheshire cat, he couldn't."
The drama between the two drivers started at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix when they crashed after Vettel tried to pass Webber for the lead.

"I think 99.9 per cent of the watching population knew that Sebastian was at fault," Neal said.

"The remainder blamed it on Mark and that included his team, which I was absolutely blown away by.

"The issues started to come because of poor team management really, letting him [Vettel] get away with things which, I just think, 'Really? You're going to let him get away with that?'"

Alan Jones, the Australian who won the 1980 Formula One world title, said there was always the perception the German driver received better treatment than Webber.

"The team is based in England but it's Austrian and German money that sponsor it," Jones said.

'Time is a healer': relationship now on the mend

Webber's debut race, in Minardi team owner Paul Stoddart's words


VIDEO: Mark Webber finishes fifth at Australian Grand Prix

"We knew the cars were marginal and it was going to be a tough weekend. And then of course the famous start, Schumacher first-turn incident, all the cars falling over each other, so you get excited because I saw both of ours get through.

"You're thinking 'it's just not possible, can he possibly score a point?' What a point means to Minardi, it's so precious, it means so many millions of dollars.

"When he crossed the line, I mean, that was just probably one of the greatest days of my life."
However, Webber said time had proved to be a healer, with the year-and-a-half since his retirement from F1 helping to thaw out the relationship between the former team-mates.

"Seb's trophy cabinet come out of it better than mine. But, I'm not jealous of him at all of what he achieved and what he's got," Webber said.

"Time is a healer, a few glasses of red wine here and there and, the grudges will be going.

"Seb and I are getting on pretty well actually, we had a good chat in Monaco, we've caught up a few times, it's interesting to see how he saw things from his perspective and how I saw things, obviously we have a lot of respect for each other.

"He said 'yes, that's what happened at the time'. He said 'yes, we all look back and say would we do things differently', and he says 'absolutely, yes'."

Red Bull was approached by Australian Story but declined an interview. Sebastian Vettel agreed to an interview but Australian Story was unable to coordinate with his schedule.

 

Here we go......

 

When your teammate lawyers up, that can put a damper on things...

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...ys-mark-webber

 

Holy ****. I had no idea. I've lost almost all respect for Vettel. That's ridiculous.

 

It's a cutthroat world, that F1 $#!t!

 

Have a lot of respect for Webber but what's the upside of this type of article? Probably just some journo looking to get eyeballs. None of this is new and frankly pales compared to what went on with Prost & Senna or Schumacher & Barrichello/Massa. Better to just get on with putting up wins and fastest laps in the 919.

 

Good grief. What a topsy turvy world where Alonso has stopped whining, and actually is acting respectfully and like a man even though his car is ****...while everyone else is whining like a girl and/or lawyering up.

 

While reading the first section, I thought I was reading something from Rosberg 5 years from now. Hamilton, like Vettel, is faster and a better racer than those teammates. Always the bridesmaid never the bride. Where was he at LeMans? 2nd place.

A loser whining about losing. Mark was 2nd tier in F1. Now he is just trying to generate some press for himself. All teams have a #1 and a #2. Sometimes it is publicly clear, other times only clear to the players involved. I like Mark well enough and was rooting for him to win the title in, what year was it, 2010 were he was so close, but #1 status is earned and he didn't get it done. He is complaining about the team choosing the young driver on his way up over the older driver on his way out. Reality is, humans typically do great things in our youth. This is particularly true in sports. We are physically stronger, mentally eager and still posses the belief in our invincibility. Putting myself in the teams position, I would do the same thing.

 

Exactly.

Secret video caught of Weber talking with Horner after the multi 21 incident.

 

Well Duh! Of course Vettel has been favored. He in the eyes of Horner, was the hotter deal.

Team orders are bull****. Just have at it boys but don't take each other out.

Of course the woman who is in love with Webbo and is his manager will fight for his place.

 

Lol at the Webber knockers. Belittling anyone with 9 F1 wins says it all. Good on Webber for writing his book and not pulling punches. Let Vettel write his own and refute the claims.

 

You forgot to mention Webber had the best car on the grid for 4.5 years.... Which averages to 2 wins per year. Pedestrian doesn't seem to give those statistics justice. Serves no purpose other than to promote himself as a sad sack. I agree with Peter, f1 is a brutal cut throat business with enough history that everyone knows that going in. You need to bite , scratch and fight for everything, no one will give you anything. The comment about coming in 2nd at LeMans as well is pretty funny too

 

Well as he and others would have you believe, it certainly wasn't always the best on the grid. To the contrary that you'd have us think Pete, there were other cars and drivers circulating at the same time. Those teams had their success and were way more competitive than people choose to remember. RBR's straightline speed has always been down by comparison to many other teams and they faced their challengers at many a Grands Prix.

I've never said Webber was the best on the grid, but feel a certain sense of defending his honour against the panel of experts that give him the thumbs down. It's like he stole your girlfriend at a dance so often do you chose to openly denigrate his accomplishments with highly subjective comments. Clearly the many well credentialed F1 people that respect his abilities and up front manner don't know what they're talking about.

As for someone writing a tell all book appearing as a sad sack, then there's tons of those on the shelves. At least he didn't skulk away and accept his fate as a sad sack. He spoke up and said it like it was (according to him). Until Vettel and others write their own accounts we'll just have to take his word for it. ;-)

 

I just think that Webber is a #2 driver that doesn't yet know it. The whining just never stops and is unbecoming. I almost see Webber and Coulthard in the same mold, a good driver, but not a #1, good guys but one decides to keep it classy and the other continues to complain about what happened years ago. Isn't it time to move on and enjoy your endurance racing career?

 

Sure, but if someone says write a book or shoves a mic in your face then tell it like it was. Don't sugar coat it just to appear to be classy. I don't like chest beating. I do like someone being forthright and honest though. Just depends on one's point of view.