Latest F1 news in brief
- Hamilton unhappy after save fuel 'instructions'
- Joy becomes crisis as Red Bull implodes in Turkey
- Ferrari struggle shows Lotus not 'rubbish' – Fernandes
- Sauber told de la Rosa not to attack teammate
- Sauber confirms Hinwil visit for Nicolas Todt
Hamilton unhappy after save fuel 'instructions'
(GMM) Lewis Hamilton on Sunday was visibly not jubilant as he accepted the winner's trophy for the twelfth time in his career.
It emerges that the 2008 was unhappy not with teammate Jenson Button's feisty racing from behind while the pair were running first and second at Istanbul, but the prior "communication" from the McLaren pitwall.
"The communication wasn't clear for me," said the Briton, who fought back and re-passed Button after they had been told to save fuel.
"When they suggested 'save this much fuel' it was not easy unless I went ridiculously slowly.
"I tried to reach that target and in doing so Jenson all of a sudden appeared from nowhere."
Button confirmed that his attempt to take the lead from the sister MP4-25 came after he was also asked to save fuel.
"After that (incident) it was back to full save mode for me," said the reigning world champion.
The Daily Star newspaper interpreted the save fuel instructions from McLaren as a veiled order for the pair to "Cut it out!"
But Hamilton insisted: "We don't have instructions."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner saw the behavior of Hamilton and Button as a lesson to his own drivers.
"When drivers are in the same team it is important they give each other a bit more respect and concede if one has got a run on the other," he said.
Hamilton said he had a front-row seat to Sebastian Vettel's crash with Mark Webber, and sided strongly with those who put the blame at the young German's door.
"He did the exact same thing to me as he did to Mark. It was dangerous. He was so quick, so aggressive as he tried to turn into me, fortunately I had enough space," said the Briton.
Joy becomes crisis as Red Bull implodes in Turkey
(GMM) Having arrived with a dominant car and leading both world championships, Red Bull has departed Turkey in crisis.
"They step on their tails too often," said BBC commentator Martin Brundle, after Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel crashed while running one-two at Istanbul Park.
Crash and loss of tempers aside, the team's management then misled the media about Webber's fuel-saving engine setting and gave the undoubtable impression that it is the young German Vettel who they want to win the 2010 title.
Compounding the team-induced mess is that the isolated Webber, 33 – who had been in the midst of contract negotiations about 2011 – is now the clear leader of the world championship.
Even Webber's race engineer Ciaran Pilbeam has been put offside. When asked why Webber was not told that Vettel was much faster, Marko told Auto Motor und Sport: "We told his engineer but he did not pass on the information."
Dr Helmut Marko, believed to be leading the German-speaking faction of the Austrian-owned team, denied that Red Bull is poisoned by an internal division.
"That's not true. We are handling our team and both drivers in the same way."
The speed of the crisis is marked out by the memories of just two weeks ago, when Vettel and Webber exaltedly leapt off the motor home into the Monaco harbor.
"I'm sure they are not going to be going out for dinner in the coming days," Marko said when asked if Sunday had destroyed their relationship.
For many in the paddock, despite their apparent media-savvy humor, Red Bull has never been the friendliest team in the paddock.
"They were always trying to squeeze (tension) between Fernando (Alonso) and Felipe (Massa) and at the moment they are facing this situation on their side," said Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali.
Referring to his Maranello employer, Fernando Alonso said: "It shows that there is a united team in the paddock."
"The important thing is to have respect," Felipe Massa added.
Team boss Christian Horner insists he will sort out the mess before Canada, after a patch-up job in the Turkey paddock proved impossible because Vettel had stormed out of the circuit.
"One of our drivers has gone," Marko confirmed when asked by the press late on Sunday.
Ferrari struggle shows Lotus not 'rubbish' – Fernandes
(GMM) On the occasion of Ferrari's 800th grand prix, Tony Fernandes made sure the Italian team's celebratory champagne tasted sour.
After proving the strongest of the three new teams in 2010, the Lotus team boss stared mockingly at the qualifying timesheets in Turkey and recalled the pre-season words of Luca di Montezemolo.
The Ferrari president had derided the new teams, accusing them of reducing F1 to little more than a glorified junior series.
But Lotus is now closing on the tail of the established teams, including Force India whose Tonio Liuzzi was just 1.2 seconds clear of Jarno Trulli at Istanbul Park.
And "The team who has done 7 races (is) 2.4 seconds slower than the team who has done 800 races. Wonder if Luca still thinks we are rubbish," Fernandes wrote on his Twitter.
Ferrari began the season with one of the favored cars, but a worried Fernando Alonso said in Turkey that the F10 is now "far behind" Red Bull and McLaren, outpaced by Mercedes and at risk of falling away from his old team Renault.
"We need to roll our sleeves up even higher," team boss Stefano Domenicali told Finland's Turun Sanomat after Alonso suggested the car has not been developed quickly enough.
"In Valencia we will have a strongly updated package," he promised.
Sauber told de la Rosa not to attack teammate
(GMM) Pedro de la Rosa has admitted he was asked to hold station behind his Sauber teammate at the end of the Turkish grand prix.
Kamui Kobayashi scored the Swiss team's first point of the 2010 season on Sunday, but his veteran teammate Pedro de la Rosa was mere tenths from his rear wing at the checkered flag.
"I am very happy to have been competitive, but I wanted something more," he is quoted by the Spanish sports newspaper Marca.
"I was close to the points but when you have to fight your teammate for it, it is difficult," added de la Rosa.
"I had to restrain myself. I wanted to attack him but on the radio they said other things," revealed the 39-year-old Spaniard.
Sauber confirms Hinwil visit for Nicolas Todt
(GMM) Peter Sauber has confirmed that Nicolas Todt visited the Swiss team's Hinwil headquarters last week.
Earlier, it was rumored that Frenchman Todt was eyeing a merger of his GP2 team ART, but Sauber insisted in Turkey that his team is not being sold.
The 66-year-old said in an interview published at motorsport-aktuell.com: "I have had a very good relationship not only with his father (Jean Todt) but also with him, especially through Felipe Massa."
Nicolas Todt also manages the 29-year-old former Sauber driver and Brazilian Massa.