Team orders at Ferrari?

Home » F1 Blog » July 25 2010 at 18:18 | posted by Sean Russell | What do you think? Add a comment here

The rules

Rule 39.1 clearly states: "Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited." This rule was created in 2002 after the very same team made a team call for Rubens Barrichello to allow Michael Schumacher to pass on the final straight of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Team orders that change the result of a race are against the rules and what happened at Hockenheim is certainly a strong case to penalise Ferrari for alternating their drivers allowing Alonso to take victory from a well deserved Massa.

The controversy

It was clear to all viewers that Alonso was the fastest Ferrari on the day and that it was more than likely that Felipe Massa was holding up Fernando and thus pushing him back into the clutches of Vettel.

What was also clear to all the viewers was the blatancy of Rob Smedley’s comment to Felipe, "So Fernando is faster than you? Can you confirm you understand that message?" It was a poor attempt to hide a team order maybe he should have stuck to the McLarens “Fuel saving” command.

This is racing, if a driver cannot pass another then how fast a driver is irrelevant. If Vettel was to catch up with the Ferraris because of Massa’s evident lack of pace then so be it.

The whole point of racing is to overtake competitively, if all that matters is speed and time then let’s not worry about Sundays at all because apparently Saturday is all that matters.

The solution

Felipe’s race engineer Rob Smedley told German Sky Sports "I don't expect any penalties whatsoever because Alonso was just faster and Massa made a small mistake when shifting up three gears at once.” But now it is up to the stewards. The stewards have called Ferrari to discuss the events that unfolded on Sunday and their decision will be known soon.

In terms of evidence I think Felipe’s reaction at the end of the race says it all.

Posted by Sean Russell - Follow him on twitter @SeanRussellF1.