On this day, nine years ago, Sebastian Vettel gave a villainous end to the Malaysian Grand Prix as he denied Mark Webber a win.
Sebastian Vettel was on the road to becoming the four-time world champion in 2013. Meanwhile, his teammate Mark Webber was at the twilight of his career.
Yet, it wasn’t a good excuse for Vettel to let a win go away from his hands. Webber was set to win the Malaysian Grand Prix 2013, and Sebastian Vettel was running P2.
At that time, any team would tell their drivers to hold their positions and the code for that- “Multi 21” was announced. However, Vettel, in his own words, “kept himself above the orders” and battled with Webber only to overtake him and win the race.
The incident fumed Webber, while even Vettel’s race engineer wasn’t happy. This incident led to a massive controversy and probably spoiled the relations between the two drivers for a long time.
In the end, Vettel gave one of the coldest quotes in F1 history when he said: “I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won.”
Also read: Aston Martin not sure if Sebastian Vettel will be back in time for Saudi Arabian GP
Sebastian Vettel apologized
After the race, Vettel apologized to Webber for his actions while talking to the media. He asserted that the act was deliberate and, at that moment, wanted to keep himself above the team’s orders.
“I am the black sheep right now…all I can say is apologies to Mark,” the German, seemingly contrite as per Reuters. Later, Vettel also claimed that he isn’t afraid of criticisms and has an explanation to give to his teammate Webber.
“I am not really too worried, I don’t really care about the criticism that is coming up now. I owe an explanation to Mark and the team. And that’s it,” he said.
“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.”
Where do the two stand now?
Nine years is a long time, and since then, Vettel has grown as a person massively. Back then, Vettel was among the most hated F1 drivers, and now he is undoubtedly the most adored.
On the other hand, Webber has left his career far behind. He is still involved with F1 as a SkySports broadcaster. Coming to his personal relations with Vettel now, it seems both have buried the past and show cordial relations on the grid.
