Appetite for Self-Destruction

Whitmarsh Gambles....and Wins

They say that Formula One is the scream of science, yet it must have been the gnashing of Christian Horner's teeth that provided the musical percussion inside a quiet and disconsolate Red Bull garage after today's race. Horner gives a cool-headed performance in front of the cameras, but behind the scenes he must have given his drivers a severe tongue-lashing after a catastrophic conclusion to the Turkish GP.

Jubilation has turned to trepidation, evident in comparing Mark Webber's post-race reactions. In Monaco it was all smiles, as the Australian back-flipped into a swimming pool. In Turkey, he could only moodily stare into the distance, as he failed to enjoy his third-place podium finish, safe in the knowledge that he would be participating in a stark post-mortem.

Two weeks ago Horner saw his teams' efforts sabotaged by the hotheadedness of his own drivers. Canada heralded the same result, a McLaren one-two, but this time it was due to a fantastic hot-lap from Lewis Hamilton during qualifying combined with a huge gamble by McLaren on tyre selection.

His McLaren counterpart Martin Whitmarsh could only wax lyrical, as his huge gambit, sending both his drivers to the third stage of qualifying on the soft green-striped option tyre, paid off. Meanwhile the Red Bulls went for the harder tyre, both knowing that they would have to start the race on that tyre. Hamilton nailed down pole position with the final lap of qualifying, while both McLarens found themselves ahead of both Red Bulls after the first wave of pit stops. Sebastian Vettel, who finished the race fourth, would later moan about back-markers, telling reporters that 'halfway through I had a lapped car which didn't want to move which lost me six seconds each time, and in the end I wasn't able to fight for the podium any more,' but the real reason was that McLaren's tactics trumped the Red Bulls'.

Reports on Saturday had suggested that rain was forecast to start right around midday, just as the race started, while Whitmarsh seemed to suggest after qualifying that his strategy banked on an early safety car. The soft option tyre would only last a half-dozen laps, so both his drivers would benefit from the commotion that a safety car brings. The rain showers never materialised, nor did a safety car, even after Kamui Kobayashi drove his Sauber into the 'champions wall,' with the Japanese driver managing to park his car off the race track.

Both McLarens were forced to pit early, harassed by Red Bulls on the harder- prime tyre, but since both slotted into clear track positions, they were able to eat into Vettel and Webber's lead, as both experienced a massive amount of tyre degradation. All the teams were then forced on to what seemed like a three-stop strategy, but all the drivers were forced onto a two-stopper, after it transpired that none had any sets of prime tyres left. Managing tyres therefore was at a premium, and of the front runners, it seemed as if Jenson Button had managed that the best, holding off Vettel for thirty or so laps, before taking Fernando Alonso on the fifty-sixth lap of seventy to take second place from the Spaniard.

The feeling in the paddock is that Red Bull have squandered their superiority, an advantage at the start of the season that was felt by many insiders to be greater than the one enjoyed by Brawn GP last season. Whereas Button romped home to six wins in the first seven races, seven straight poles for Red Bull only saw three wins. They have enjoyed no such domination, and it is the two Britons who now lead the Championship race, Hamilton then Button.

A mechanical problem meant Vettel slipped behind both Ferraris in Bahrain, a rear brake failure cost the German another victory amidst wet conditions in Australia, while a gutsy call of tyres saw Button take victory in China. The incident in Turkey then, was one of a catalogue of occasions when Vettel has thrown away points.

Whereas Webber and Vettel seem be at each others' throats, the McLaren duo finished the race chatting animatedly, like two teenage boys having got off a roller-coaster where nothing will do but that they describe the experience to each other in the most minute detail. Their respective championship wins have banished the insecurities that now plague Webber and Vettel.

And to compound this misery, Red Bulls' two biggest rivals have planned upgrades on the way. Ferrari have new parts on the way for Valencia in two weeks, while McLaren will have significant improvements ready for their home race of Silverstone. Advantage McLaren, for now.

And the rest of the GP.....

Meanwhile both Schumacher and Massa's afternoons were spoiled by a pair of Force Indias: the seven-time world champion was passed by both of them on the final lap, ensuring he would finish the day with no points, while the young Brazilian had so many incidents with the two, including an incident with Antonio Liuzzi on the second corner. Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica seemed not to be affected by anything else that happened on the track, as they finished sixth and seventh respectively without incident. The Pole returned to the track that nearly cost him his life in 2007, while also providing his maiden F1 victory a year later.