Better late than never: Mark and Seb met at Milton Keynes on Thursday and posed for a staged photo. Now they have to put Turkey behind them.
The biggest casualty of Turkish Grand Prix wasn't Red Bull's title charge, which has seen the team demoted to the second spot behind McLaren. Instead, it was Sebastian Vettel's reputation.
Seb's hand signals have cast him as the bad guy. Personally, I fully support gravel-trap theatrics, whether justified or not. If a driver crashes out of the lead, I say he should kick the car and lamp a marshal. Then he should go on TV and slag everyone off. And then he should go out on the piss and have a laugh about it. See Nelson Piquet Sr.
But I doubt Vettel had much to laugh about on the night of the Turkish Grand Prix. Before lap 40 you wouldn't have found a single person who had a bad word to say about him. He was seen as a brilliantly fast driver destined to be champion and, unlike so many who have found themselves in that position, an approachable lad with a great sense of humour, mature for his years, and very media-savvy.
Perception has changed. Now he's viewed by many inside and outside of the sport as stroppy, immature, unable to pull off a simple overtaking manouvre, and receiving favourable treatment over his team mate.
It's been a PR disaster for the German.
The facts are that Seb is still a brilliant driver, and he's still a smart and mature bloke. I like him a lot. He's in his fourth season of F1 and this is his first PR cock-up. That's pretty amazing, given the media spotlight. Think of the number of excruciating moments there have been in the public life of Lewis Hamilton over those same four seasons. I count five biggies*, far more reprehensible than Vettel's copybook blot which was, to cut the kid some slack, a racing incident.
No one expects him to be a ball of laughs after what happened, but he should have apologized to Mark and the team, on seeing the film footage, by Monday morning at the latest. That statement didn't come until Thursday, and even then it was in print - less convincing than video.
Instead, the battle for goodwill was won by Mark Webber, who released a video statement on the Monday explaining his thoughts on the situation in the most positive light he could muster.
If the championship were won on PR power alone, Mark would be the victor. To a team like Red Bull - a team that exists to sell energy drinks - that currency is as valuable as horsepower and Seb can only do so much to rebuild his status as an F1 good guy, he needs Red Bull's help.
For all the suspicion out there that the company is favouring the younger German-speaking Marko-discovered driver over the elder statesman, if Vettel wins without his image restored it will all be for nothing.
And that means Seb must go on a charm offensive in Canada - something that shouldn't be too difficult, given his genuine personality. He can't do a Tiger Woods and refuse to come out of the motorhome. He mustn't do a Bill Clinton and deny he's done anything wrong. Follow the lead of David Letterman, go on TV, and say you fucked up.
The difference is, those gentlemen were all embroiled in sex scandals. Seb was just doing his job. But without FIA orgies to report on this year, Turkey has become the biggest story of the year.
*
1. The PR stunt which saw Lewis harnessed above a stage in a re-enactment of Troy, and come in for photographic ridicule.
2. Moving to Switzerland for tax reasons, but insisting it was to escape the British paparrazi.
3. Ignoring team orders in Hungary in 2007 and passing his team mate in qualifying.
4. Liargate.
5. Getting charged in Australia this year for 'hooning'.
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