“I Should’ve Turned My Engine Up”: Webber on Multi-21 Incident With Vettel

Revisiting one of the most controversial moments in Red Bull history, Mark Webber revealed what he should’ve done differently during the infamous Multi-21 incident.

Webber expressed regret at losing the race to teammate Sebastian Vettel and believes turning the engine up could’ve changed the outcome.

‘Multi-21’ is synonymous with F1 fans as one of the more defiant moments in Vettel’s career. It’s no secret that the 4 times World Champion is no fan of team orders, but his actions in Malaysia 7 years ago did not earn him any new fans.

When Sebastian Vettel took matters into his own hands

For those who aren’t aware of what transpired on that fateful day, here a quick summary:

Red Bull was on course to finish the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix with a dominant 1-2 finish. Webber led Vettel when the German decided he didn’t want the race to end in that manner. Ignoring team orders, Vettel jostled for the lead and ultimately won the race.

Reflecting on the Malaysian Grand Prix, Webber shared his thoughts:

“One of my biggest regrets: I should have turned my engine right back up [when Vettel began attacking him]. But instinctively, I’m like ‘Well we should be just closing this race out – we’ve only got three or four or five laps to go and we’re fighting each other and using a lot of material and machinery’.”

Red Bull had instructed both drivers to turn their respective engines down and cruise to the finish line. As we now know, that wasn’t the case.

“Because it was clear for that particular race that we should be shutting the Grand Prix down,” Webber said.

“Deep down, who knows if Sebastian still to this day regrets that particular Grand Prix? Maybe he doesn’t, I’m not sure. But look, I wasn’t an angel at certain other events here and there.”

The incident is commonly referred to as the Multi-21 saga because of the team radio message that Red Bull passed on to Vettel. “Multi -21” was code for car no 2 leading car no 1- Webber leading Vettel.

However, Vettel had other ideas and transformed the order into Multi-12. After the race, the German apologized for his actions and regretted the same. Sadly, it was the final nail in the coffin for the Red Bull drivers’ relationship.