Formula 1 president Bernie Ecclestone has insisted that Sebastian Vettel was right to ignore orders from Red Bull during the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion caused controversy on his way to victory in Sepang after neglecting team orders and proceeding to attack and overtake his race-leading teammate Mark Webber in order to gain the win.
Vettel has since come under heavy criticism from all corners of the sport, but Ecclestone has leapt to the defence of the 25-year-old.
"If I was Sebastian Vettel, having won three world championships for the team, and somebody came on the radio and started giving me instructions I'd probably do exactly the same as Kimi Raikkonen did when he came back and they gave him some instructions, I'd say 'I know what I'm doing'," Ecclestone told Sky Sports News.
"Christian [Horner] knows exactly what should have happened didn't happen. Put yourself in Christian's position, what should he now do? Did he give orders in the first place. If he did, how could he then give more orders?
"I always say, show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser. Sebastian is not a loser. Sebastian is a winner."
The next race is the Chinese Grand Prix, which takes place in April.
Matt Cotton
