(Ian Hay is a BPL Citizen Journalist and editor of the sports blog, http://therowzview.blogspot.com) 

Mark Webber's behaviour during and after the recent British F1 Grand Prix provides a very stark comparison between team conduct and ethics in F1 and another great sporting event currently underway, the Tour de France.

The key contrast between the two sports is their respective interpretations of the word ‘team.'

An F1 team consists of two cars and two principle drivers who are jointly supported in their pursuits by being given the same car, the same engine and comparable funding.

Behind each driver is an extended team of mechanics, engineers, technicians and other resources whose collective aim is to win the F1 Constructors World Championship and to have one of its drivers win the individual F1 Drivers' Championship.

Given the way the points system works, if you succeed in one goal there is a good chance that you will achieve the other.

The ultimate responsibility of achieving success rests with the Team Manager who deploys his / her resources to the betterment of the team, a significant proportion of which involves paying vast sums of money to the drivers who risk their lives piloting the state-of-the-art machines. This is a VERY BIG business with much at stake for all concerned.

At the British Grand Prix, Australian Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, openly ignored his team's direct orders, which were to not try and overtake his team mate, Sebastian Vettel, in the closing stages of the race. In making repeated attempts to pass his team mate he risked a racing incident which could have seen both drivers out of the race and the chances of achieving the team's goals somewhat damaged.

Vettel, the current World Champion, is a 24-year-old prodigy destined for a long career in F1. Webber is a 34-year-old journeyman who has been handed an amazing opportunity, late in his career, to drive arguably the best car on the track. The problem is that Webber does not seem to realise (and to be fair to him, his team haven't helped by telling him directly) that he is the ‘domestique' of team Red Bull and that he will always be required, when necessary, to play second fiddle to his more able teammate.

Webber is paid a lot of money to drive well and to do what he is told by his team and for him to jeopardise the success of the collective (and risk his and Vettel's own safety) by ignoring team instructions beggars belief. One can only feel at this twilight stage of his career that he feels this may be his last chance to win a Championship and hence all loyalty and commonsense is thrown out of the window.

Meanwhile, over in France, the most-watched sports event on the planet is meandering its scenic way around the French countryside, seemingly taking in every chateau, Alp and tourist photo opportunity possible.

On Le Tour, the whole concept of ‘team' and the behaviours this inspires could not be more different than that displayed by Webber on Sunday.

A team consists of nine riders, one of whom will always be the designated leader. The rest are rather dismissively known as ‘domestiques,' or servants, in the English vernacular. The domestique's job is to do everything possible to ensure his team leader succeeds in their particular area of strength - whether that is sprinting, climbing or the general classification.

At the end of the tour, all prize money, even the winner's cheque, is pooled between the team members. This contributes to what HR would call perfect "goal alignment," so that the best outcome for the team is achieved. The winner has even been known to forego his share of winnings for the domestiques' benefit to ensure that he receives the best service possible.

Examples of this team camaraderie and sportsmanship would make many other sports envious and put Webber's actions to even more shame.

If a team leader has a ‘mechanical' or crashes, the other riders will also stop so that they can pace the leader back to the peloton. They will even, when needed, give their bike to the team leader and wait for a replacement to arrive before they themselves continue.

In the closing stages, riders such as HTC's domestique, Mark Renshaw, will lead a train of teammates at breakneck speed at the front of the race and ‘bury' themselves, with the sole aim of catapulting team leader, Mark Cavendish, out into the bunch sprint at the last moment to win the stage.

Domestiques will spend the day shuttling backwards and forwards between team cars and their team leader collecting and delivering equipment, drinks and food.

Following a crash by the Astana team leader Alexendre Vinokourov on Sunday, his entire team leapt off their own bikes and clambered down a roadside gully in order to carry him back up the slope to the road where, unfortunately, his injuries were so severe he was forced to abandon the race.

Subsequently, in an amazing demonstration of sportsmanship, and conscious of such a bad accident, the whole field slowed and waited for the rescuers to rejoin them.

Cadel Evans is currently well placed in the race to mount a serious challenge for the elusive Yellow Jersey but, despite his fine form, the notable improvement in his chances from last year is augmented by the fact that he has a much stronger team that can support him in the key mountain stages to come. If Cadel is on the podium in Paris it is with 100 per cent certainty that one of the BMC team will not be in the media scrum whining away how he should have been able to overtake Cadel in a key stage finish!

This unselfish demonstration of team ethics and integrity in such a professional and tough sport should be universally admired and sadly display the actions of Webber in a very dim light indeed.