Red Bull have put themselves in a difficult position following their failure to punish Sebastian Vettel, according to former driver John Watson.
The 66-year-old veteran of 152 race starts believes Red Bull, should they find themselves in a similar situation to Malaysia, will struggle to control either of its drivers following the falling out which was the result of Vettel disobeying team orders.
“The Malaysia thing has been swept under the carpet. I don’t know how long it can stay there,” he told the BBC.
“I suspect we will still see ructions at races later in the year.”
Whilst Vettel apologised to the team and Webber for his actions, he says he refuses to apologise for winning and added that he can’t rule out doing the same again in future.
That, according to Watson, will leave Webber in a position to go against the teams wishes if he cannot count on his team-mate to follow orders.
“There will be occasions where Webber and Vettel will be running in a one-two situation. What authority does the pit wall now have to control certainly one of its drivers but most likely both of them?
“I can imagine Webber will think: ‘I did the right thing and was prevented from winning that race and now I find myself with a team-mate who doesn’t obey team orders and doesn’t receive any sanction or penalty – so why should I bother obeying team orders?'”
“I think the team have shown incredible weakness by not penalising their number one driver,” he added.
“Red Bull have opened Pandora’s box. How can anybody control Vettel from now on?”
