Vettel admits team orders possible in India

Sebastian Vettel has confirmed there might be some place-swapping with his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber towards the end of Sunday’s inaugural Indian grand prix.

The team, already with the drivers’ and constructors’ championships in the bag, has revealed that its last ambition for 2011 is to power Webber from fourth to second in the points standings.

Publications on Thursday quoted team boss Christian Horner as hinting that team orders - now entirely legal in formula one albeit still controversial - cannot be ruled out.

World champion Vettel, who insisted he would "love" to see the Red Bull drivers finish both first and second in the 2011 championship, would be the one asked to move over.

"We’ve seen this year, in particular, races are long and a lot of things can happen in the beginning but also the end - overtaking is definitely possible," the 24-year-old is quoted as saying by the AAP news agency.

"So the race order may not be clear, five or 10 laps to the end," he said in India.

"For sure, it depends where you are. So we worry first of all to make sure we’re in a strong position and then I think the scenario-situation comes last," added the German.