MARK WEBBER turned into a raging Red Bull — giving the finger to team-mate Sebastian Vettel as Formula One exploded in anger.
The Aussie was furious after Vettel ignored strict team orders not to overtake him to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Even Red Bull’s consultant Helmut Marko admitted the German was “out of control” and the team forced the three-time world champ to make a grovelling apology to Webber.
Vettel said: “I didn’t do it deliberately, I didn’t realise I had made a mistake.
“Only when I came back I realised. I had a very short word with Mark and then it hit me quite hard. I realised that I f***ed up.
“I’m not sorry to win. I think we both drove a strong race but Mark should have won. I did the mistake and I’m sorry for that.”
CHARMING ... Mark Webber gives Sebastian Vettel the finger
The flashpoint happened 10 laps from the end when Vettel went wheel-to-wheel with Webber, forcing team principal Christian Horner to intervene on the radio.
He said: “This is silly, Seb. Come on.”
But Vettel, 25, totally blanked the instructions from his boss and blasted past Webber, who had been told to nurse his car home.
It came after Vettel had earlier, somewhat arrogantly, demanded that the team instruct Webber to move out the way.
He fumed into his radio: “Mark is too slow. Get him out of the way!”
DIVIDED ... Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were far from happy on the pdoium
Horner has now demanded showdown talks with Vettel after refusing to believe the driver’s claim that he misunderstood the instructions.
He said: “The instruction was given to both cars to hold their position. At that point Sebastian has chosen to ignore that.
“It wasn’t right what he did, he accepts that. He said if he could wind the clock back he wouldn’t do it again.
“He felt that he hadn’t heard the call and it was unclear to him what the instruction was, but he’s chosen to hear what he wants to hear.
“He put his interests beyond what the team’s position was. It’s important we learn from it.
“We’ll take about this behind closed doors — it is not the end of the matter. He and I will be having future discussions.
“It’ll take Mark time to calm down but what is done is done. There was no manipulation, no conspiracy, so if he’s thinking about his future its sheer emotion talking.”
The incident is likely to damage Vettel’s reputation as previous events like this also threatened to overshadow the achievements of his mentor Michael Schumacher.
And it could have a serious impact Red Bull, who are looking to defend the constructors’ title they have won for the last three years.
Webber, who is flying to Australia to go surfing and cool off, hit out at Vettel and demanded the team take action against him, which could be in the shape of a fine.
He added: “I was controlling the race and getting everything in place and then after the last stop the team told me the race was over.
“We turned my engines down and that we’d go to the end. The team made a decision to get the car to the end.
“But Seb made his own decisions and will have protection. That’s the way it goes.
“I’m a big sports fan and the fans of any sport will want it to be a perfect world always.
“We want it to be pure and want it to be real, but there is an element of naivety.”
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