Schumacher brothers urge Red Bull to use team orders

The Schumacher brothers are adamant Red Bull must now impose team orders if it wants to win the 2010 drivers’ world championship.

Their young countryman Sebastian Vettel looked set to take the points lead from his Australian teammate Mark Webber, who crashed on the slippery Yeongam circuit, after controlling Sunday’s Korean grand prix from pole position.

But Vettel also retired from the race with an engine failure, leaving him 14 points shy of Webber, who is now 11 points behind new championship leader Fernando Alonso.

With just two races to go, Ralf Schumacher thinks Red Bull’s new strategy should be obvious.

“Now Red Bull need to play a single card; Mark Webber,” the former grand prix winner, in Korea to commentate for German television, is quoted by Bild newspaper.

“Sebastian needs to get as many points as he can, but Red Bull must see to it that Webber gets the title,” Schumacher added.

Reluctantly, because it will be to the detriment of his friend Vettel, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher also said a team strategy must now be taken by Red Bull for the remaining Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.

“I’m sorry for Sebastian,” he told German television Sky.  “I have to recall almost a decade ago, when everyone thought we at Ferrari were crazy to be thinking about the championship so early.

“But if Red Bull had done the same, their worry lines would be much smaller now,” added the German.

His reference to “almost a decade ago” must surely be about 2002, when Ferrari was roundly condemned for moving Rubens Barrichello aside so that Schumacher could take maximum points from the Austrian grand prix.

Ferrari implemented a similarly controversial strategy at Hockenheim earlier this year, and on Sunday Fernando Alonso moved to the head of the drivers’ title standings.

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted on Sunday as saying he will not be making Webber the number 1 driver for the rest of 2010.

But he also told reporters at Yeongam: “I haven’t had time to look at all the mathematics and scenarios.  It’s something that obviously we will look at pretty closely between now and Brazil.”

Vettel, however, made clear he is not personally ready to give up, even though his engine failure seriously dented his charge in Korea.

“It is very significant for the championship situation, but I am the last to give up,” German media quote him as saying. 
 © RIF | GMM