Webber reveals lack of 'Multi 21' punishment for Vettel

Mark Webber has revealed Sebastian Vettel involved lawyers to ensure he wasn't punished for the 'Multi 21' incident at Red Bull.

During the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix, Vettel ignored a team order from Red Bull not to overtake Webber and duly passed his team-mate to take victory. Team principal Christian Horner could be heard warning Vettel on team radio but the matter was dealt with internally and the German later admitted he was not punished.

Writing in his new book - Aussie Grit - which has been released in Australia, Webber says legal involvement prevented Red Bull from taking action.

“When Ann [Neal, Webber’s partner] later pressed [Horner] about why the team had never reprimanded Seb or issued any punishment for the ‘Multi 21’ incident, he admitted that the team had received a two-page letter from Seb’s lawyer a few days after the Malaysian race stating that they were in breach of his contract by giving him an ‘unreasonable instruction/team order’,” Webber wrote.

“Whatever [Vettel’s] thinking was, when he overtook me I wasn’t so much angry as very sad that the team had reached this sorry state.”

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Austrian GP: Friday's action in pictures

As predicted, Friday at the Red Bull Ring unfolded under clear blue skies but scorching…

2 hours ago

Russell flags McLaren as genuine threat in Austrian GP heat

Mercedes may have ended Friday at the top of the timesheets in Spielberg, but George…

3 hours ago

Red Bull braces for another major exit as Monaghan linked to Cadillac

The revolving door at Red Bull Racing may not have stopped spinning just yet. A…

3 hours ago

Austrian GP: Hyper quick Antonelli keeps Mercedes on top in FP2

A quick and determined Kimi Antonelli finished Friday’s second practice at the Red Bull Ring…

4 hours ago

Austrian Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull…

4 hours ago

Verstappen wants F1 to avoid Spa 24 Hours clash in 2027

Max Verstappen is laser focused on Red Bull's home Formula 1 race in Spielberg, but…

6 hours ago