The implications of the Red Bull team orders row

Whenever Mark Webber and Christian Horner have their little post-British Grand Prix chat to chew over what happened during the closing stages of Silverstone, both will have every right to feel as though they have been a bit hard done by.

For Webber, it was clear that he was fuming at the instruction to hold position behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel - especially with a second place at stake and him keen to get as many points as possible in the bag.

For Horner, he has found himself thrust into a fresh controversy over team orders - and on the receiving end of a barrage of criticism from fans and sections of the media about why someone who made bold proclamations about always letting his drivers race supposedly went back on that and imposed team orders.

Beyond that, Red Bull faces the fresh problem of the 'rebel within' again, after Webber told the press that he had ignored what he felt were "unnecessary" team orders anyway.

This latest row may be nowhere near as big as the Ferrari Hockenheim team orders affair last year, or even the infamous Turkey collision between Webber and Vettel a few months before that, but it has provided a fascinating insight into some of the tensions and paranoia that still exist within the walls of the Energy Station.

Up until Silverstone, matters had been fairly rosy for the reigning champion team. Its RB7 was the class of the field and, with Vettel's swift adaptability to the new Pirelli tyres, the natural order of the outfit meant the German was comfortably clear of team-mate Webber in the races.

It was the perfect situation for the team: not much competitive tension between its drivers; a car that was allowing its fastest man to produce results; and, at almost every race, an ever increasing World Championship advantage.

That safety blanket caused by the car and Webber's struggles to adapt to the Pirelli tyres evaporated during the build-up to Silverstone, however.

Webber on the podium © LAT

On the car front, the team was increasingly worried about the looming ban on the off-throttle use of blown diffusers. While confident that it would not be handicapped too much more than other teams, it was left fuming when it appeared that a concession on reliability grounds handed to the Mercedes-Benz teams (namely that they could fire four cylinders of overrun on their engines under braking) would hand the advantage to its rivals.

A clearly irritated Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey told his team's website: "Frankly, I think Mercedes thought they'd pulled a fast one."

Matters appeared more comfortable on Friday morning when the FIA agreed the Renault powered teams could run 50 per cent off-throttle under braking because of reliability issues relating to exhaust valves. When that concession was taken away on Saturday morning, Red Bull Racing went apoplectic - privately threatening protests against any team that was running with a 'blowing' advantage.

In the end the situation calmed down and, with it likely that Formula 1 teams will be able to revert to their Valencia engine maps for the next race in Germany, it appears Red Bull will be locking horns once again with Ferrari and McLaren.

However, while the car's competitiveness issue has been put to bed, a more blossoming problem for Red Bull has been Webber's increasing confidence on the Pirellis - and the fact that that has manifested itself in improved pace.

The Australian took pole at Silverstone and, although he made a poor getaway and seemed out of the running for a podium place early on, a strong recovery and problems for his rivals put him in contention to beat a struggling Vettel during the closing stages.

Rapidly closing in on the German, who was by then well adrift of race leader Fernando Alonso, and well aware this was going to be his first opportunity to beat Vettel in 2011 - Webber was pretty hacked off when the message came through to 'Maintain the gap.'

The groans in the media centre when the radio message was broadcast told its own story about the general feeling on the team orders, as journalists felt as disappointed as fans at being robbed of a thrilling finish.

Yet the situation is certainly not as black and white as many fans are seeing it - and there is no definitive argument that proves conclusively that either Horner or Webber were totally in the right, or completely out of order. All we can say is that perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, they both could have played things a little better.

Webber and Horner at Silverstone © LAT

For Horner, it was a no-brainer to not want his drivers to risk crashing into each other during the closing stages of the race, and thereby throw away valuable points on an afternoon that could mark the start of a Ferrari resurgence.

And imagine the backlash in Germany, and from his World Championship leader, if he had asked Vettel to pull aside for the quicker Webber rather than have them hold position?

Yet Horner's justification for his actions on Sunday night that: "It would have ended in the wall" actually produces more questions than it answers. For it suggests that Horner has no trust in his two drivers not to stage a repeat of Turkey 2010 - which in turn can lead one to suggest that the outfit has not learned the lessons from what happened at Istanbul on that amazing afternoon.

And, for a team that has long prided itself on not imposing team orders on its drivers because of its lifestyle brand, how much better would it have been if Horner had come on the radio and laid down his stance in a different way: "Guys, go for it! Hang it out there boys! You can race each other, but I will not tolerate one bit either of you risking yourself or your team-mate. Bring those cars home..."

Only Horner can decide if, with hindsight, he would do something different were he put into that same situation again. But in reality, all he should care about at this stage of the championship is that his cars maximise their position, not the order they come home in.

For Webber, it is clear that he was upset about being told to hold back behind Vettel - and he has earned praise from his fans for proving he is a racer. But he also has a duty as an employee of a team to not just go about ignoring what is asked of him.

There have been countless occasions when drivers have got annoyed at team orders situations - David Coulthard at Jerez in 1997 and Melbourne in 1998 and Juan Pablo Montoya at Magny-Cours in 2003 are three recent ones that spring to mind - but on none of those occasions did the unhappy driver go against instructions.

By all means, Webber would have been justified to criticise the team afterwards; making it clear that he was not happy about what happened and that team chiefs should trust him more in the future not to crash if he is battling his team-mate. But it is quite a different thing to ignoring the team.

Did Horner fear another Turkey-style debacle? © LAT

And let's not forget that both Horner and Webber find themselves on shaky ground when it comes to justifying their actions.

Webber's ignoring of the orders to the chequered flag effectively showed what would have happened without any interference from the pitwall. So therefore it proved that there was no danger of him crashing into Vettel: because there were times when he could have taken a much bigger risk if he had really wanted to push things to the extreme. That says Horner should have trusted his drivers more.

And yet, at the same time, Webber's failure to get past Vettel in the closing stages showed that Horner was right to impose team orders - because it would have protected beyond all doubt what would have been a two-three finish anyway.

It is not what happened at Silverstone in those final four laps that really matters now, because both men will probably continue to feel a bit aggrieved with the other about their actions. But it is where it all goes from here that gets really interesting.

Are there real trust issues between the drivers? What implications will the affair have for Webber's future at the team? Is this the start of fresh tensions between the racers and the managers?

These are things that only Horner and Webber can decide for themselves - mano a mano. And this time, there will be no radio communication interfering with the outcome.