Brake problem slowed Vettel before Webber pass

It was not an engine problem that slowed Sebastian Vettel and allowed teammate Mark Webber to pass him during the Italian Grand Prix.

The conspiracy theorists' eyes widened during Sunday's Monza race when the RB6 driven by Vettel, who is behind Webber in the world championship, temporarily slowed but then recovered pace after the Australian had passed him.

The young German was heard on the radio complaining of a loss of engine power, to which BBC pundit Eddie Jordan recommended him for a Bafta -- a British acting prize.

Team boss Christian Horner later clarified that the problem was not caused by the Renault engine.

"At first we thought one of his visor tear-offs might have flown into the airbox, but it now looks as though his brakes were momentarily binding, probably as the result of hitting a kerb," said the Briton.

The same conspiracy theorists were also pointing to an incident during Felipe Massa's pitstop that put the Ferrari driver out of contention for the top two places at Monza, a race won by the Brazilian's teammate Fernando Alonso.

"I don't know what happened," he said afterwards. "I just saw that they took a little bit of time to change the front right tyre."