Weekend drama at Sochi and Silverstone

Vettel ignores a team order – again

He might have won in Singapore, but Sebastian Vettel had needed a big slice of fortune to end his 13-month drought – and at Sochi he found himself once more on the back foot in his battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc that is increasingly becoming personal. On days like these, it seems four-time world champion Vettel’s career is in a tailspin that appears increasingly hard to pull out from.

Historically, Ferrari has often shown a tendency to over-complicate matters between its drivers – most obviously in the Michael Schumacher-Rubens Barrichello era – and its decision to tactically use a slipstream at Sochi in an attempt to secure a one-two was a temptation fate could not resist.

The plan initially appeared to work a treat, as third-place starter Vettel jumped Hamilton and benefitted from pole position man Leclerc’s tow. Then he slipped past into a lead in a move that soon emerged to be premeditated rather than on merit. All fine.

Vettel was, of course, supposed to then give the lead back – but not for the first time in a pre-race agreement with a team-mate, he then seemed to struggle to keep his word. This was shades of ‘Multi 21’ and Mark Webber in Malaysia during the Red Bull days, when he blatantly stole a victory that should have been the Australian’s.

Just as he did back in 2013, Vettel knew his turncoat actions would cause internal friction his team would not welcome, but in such situations he can’t seem to help himself. But with Webber, he knew deep down he was a more complete racing driver – as four consecutive titles attest. This time in the case of Leclerc, it is increasingly obvious that is not the case. Petulance? Certainly. But there was also a trace of anger driven by the insecurity of knowing he’s no longer the number one in his team.

Time is a rival racing drivers can never beat and it seems to be already catching up with Vettel at the age of just 32. Binotto attempted to smooth over any controversy afterwards, saying neither had contravened the pre-race agreement. But on three occasions his senior driver had blatantly ignored an instruction to let Leclerc by. Such an action must have consequences, if not in terms of an actual punishment at least in terms of creating fractures in relationships. Vettel’s future is supposedly secure at Ferrari – but at Sochi he was playing with fire and if this continues, he’s likely to get burned.

Hamilton’s lucky break

Ferrari managed the driver swap situation by pitting Leclerc early, running him for a number of laps on fresh tyres and then calling Vettel in, thus allowing Charles to undercut Seb. But then the German inadvertently cost him victory anyway by causing a virtual safety car when his MGU-K hybrid system failed. At least, it seemed inadvertent.

Some argued his combustion engine was still running, so he therefore could have made it back to the pits and avoid causing a VSC. Was choosing to pull over another example of petulance and a conscious decision to ruin Leclerc’s day – or is that a conspiracy theory too far? Whatever the truth, it stung Ferrari that Vettel’s retirement cost it that fourth consecutive victory. Hamilton effectively was handed a free stop – he was running long on medium-compound tyres and hadn’t yet come in – allowing the Merc to jump ahead.

To make matters worse, George Russell’s crash caused by a failure on his Williams then brought out the real safety car, and that allowed Valtteri Bottas to further demote Leclerc to third. Sometimes it’s just not your day.

Turkington extends BTCC advantage

The three-race format of BTCC Sundays really does allow for racing narratives to twist and turn over the course of one afternoon – and the large, devoted crowd at Silverstone was clearly loving the drama, judging by their enthusiasm in the grandstands and on the banking.

Three-time champion Colin Turkington started the day just 10 points up on BMW team-mate Andrew Jordan after an at times fraught meeting at Knockhill. And on Sunday there was a hint that the Northern Irishman was feeling the pressure when he spun down the order on the exit of Luffield in Race 1. His recovery to 14^th was impressive, but with Jordan ahead of him his title lead was down to just four points.

But in Race 2 Turkington came out fighting, slicing past driver after driver to finish second before rain stopped play a few minutes early. Meanwhile Jordan got involved in a door-banging duel with Honda’s Dan Cammish, which bizarrely continued during a safety car period. Jordan refused to yield as they circulated behind the safety car, running alongside Cammish rather than falling into line. Was it now his turn to feel the pressure? To make matters worse, Cammish had now leapfrogged him into second in the points.

In Race 3, Turkington again got the better of Jordan to finish one position ahead of him – P7 and P8 – while Cammish could only make it home in 12^th. That leaves the reigning champion 16 points ahead of Cammish, with Jordan just one point behind the Honda driver. The Brands Hatch finale on October 12^th/13^th is going to be unmissable.

The Silverstone winners were Toyota’s Tom Ingram, who twice overcame contact with Jason Plato to win impressively in Races 1 and 2, while in the final race of the day Jack Goff delivered a first BTCC win for Team Hard – certainly the most oddly named squad in the BTCC and perhaps also in world motorsport.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.