Sebastian Vettel has widened the fractious divide between himself and Mark Webber by publicly belittling his Red Bull team-mate.
Vettel insists there is “no war” between himself and the Australian in the wake of the team orders fiasco that overshadowed Red Bull’s one-two finish in the Malaysian Grand Prix just over a fortnight ago.
But his words ahead of this weekend’s race in China make clear there is a deep vein of mistrust that severely undermines the team.
Vettel was given a 20-minute grilling from the media crammed into the tight confines of Red Bull’s paddock home at the Sepang International Circuit, and for the most part he weathered the barrage well.
But in stating Webber did not deserve to win, and that given the same set of circumstances he would “probably” do the same again in future, shows Red Bull are a team in name only, and they possess two drivers at opposite ends of the sporting spectrum.
Vettel may be a three-time world champion, but his status has been weakened given his unrepentant stance in disregarding boss Christian Horner’s instruction.
As far as Vettel is concerned, he believes it was his right to take the chequered flag for the 27th time in his F1 career.
“I was faster in the end,” said Vettel. “That is why I was able to overtake, and overtaking in F1 is not easy, let’s not forget that.
“Obviously I realised at that moment there was quite a conflict.
“On the one hand I am the kind of guy who respects team decisions and on the other hand, probably Mark is not the one who deserved it (to win) at the time.
“The bottom line is I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won.”