Sebastian Vettel win the pits for Mark Webber

SEBASTIAN Vettel faces a reprimand from Red Bull after deliberately ignoring team orders to snatch victory from his team-mate at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Webber frustration boils

SEBASTIAN Vettel faces a reprimand from Red Bull after deliberately ignoring team orders to snatch victory from his team-mate at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The German world champion set a new benchmark for Formula One by apologising for his victory within seconds of collecting the winner's trophy, while Mark Webber listened stony-faced alongside him on the podium at the Sepang circuit.

Webber was leading after a final round of pitstops with ten laps to go, and under instructions to turn down his engine and cruise to the chequered flag, when Vettel pounced. The pair diced dangerously as Adrian Newey, Red Bull's chief engineering officer and the architect of the team's success, held his head in his hands.

Vettel won with a furious Webber second. The Australian has returned home for a few days to relax and clear his mind after threatening to examine his future with Red Bull alongside a team-mate whom he has partnered for the past five seasons.

Christian Horner, the team principal, admitted last night that Vettel had ignored his messages to stay in position behind Webber to the end.

"As soon as that last pitstop was complete, it was a matter of managing the tyres to the end of the race," he said. "At that point, Sebastian has chosen to ignore that and the interests of a driver are different to the team. What he did wasn't right. He accepts that and if he could wind the clock back, he wouldn't do it again."

But the damage is done. The atmosphere between the team-mates crackled with tension as Webber refused to meet the German's gaze, only reminding him that the order "Multi-21", which means team orders in place, had been issued to both drivers. Vettel claimed that he did not know he was under orders, despite a message from Horner as the German launched himself at Webber's car to say: "This is silly, Sebastian, come on."

Vettel said: "I am not really too worried or don't really care about the criticism that is coming now. I owe an explanation to Mark and to the team, and that is it. Everyone else obviously has the right to have their own opinions, but for sure it is not a victory that I am very proud of because it should have been Mark's.

"I made a big mistake today and we should have stayed in the position. I messed up in that situation and took the lead from Mark and can say now he is upset. Apologies to Mark. The result is there, and all I can say is that I didn't do it deliberately."

Horner is now faced with a rapid repair job on the relationship between his drivers, which has never been good even at the best of times. They have a history of spats and rows, although they seemed to have decided to get on as best they could after Webber accepted a one-year extension on his contract up until the end of this season.

Webber made his feelings clear in the debrief last night, while Horner says he will have further talks with Vettel. Whether that means the three-times world champion will be punished remains to be seen, but Webber will be looking to his team principal to lay down the law.

"We need to put it behind us," Horner said. "We employ these guys because they are competitive and they are driven. Of course, it is unhelpful for the team. We converted the 43 points and it shouldn't mar a great team performance. It is the type of thing we talk about behind closed doors."

The incident also poses new question marks about team orders, a tactic that has been widely criticised. They have been used to rob drivers of victories in the past in favour of their team-mates, but if teams cannot control their drivers, there could be chaos on the track.

The Times