FIA Set Date For Ferrari Team Orders Hearing
The FIA have announced that Ferrari will come before the World Motorsport Council hearing on September 8th.
Ferrari are being called before Formula One’s highest court for allegedly breaking rule 39.1, which states that team orders are not allowed in any form within the sport. The incident in question occured at the German Grand Prix two weeks ago, when Felipe Massa was allegedly asked to move aside so that Fernando Alonso could win the race.
Ferrari were immediately fined $100,000 and could face further penalties.
There was significant furor at the time of the incident, but it is now being called into question over whether they actually did break the rule or not. They did make one car move aside for the other, but the indication from Bernie Ecclestone (who sits on the judging panel) was that the rule is in place not to stop a team deciding which order their cars finish but moreover to stop two teams working together to fix the result of a race.
With the hearing only a matter of days before the Italian Grand Prix, it is likely any penalty will be met with distaste from the Italian Tifosi fans.
Ecclestone Thinks Team Orders Rule Should Be Dropped
Bernie Ecclestone, the owner of Formula One says that the team orders ban in Formula One must be dropped following the incident in last weekend’s German Grand Prix where Ferrari switched Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso so that the Spaniard could win the Grand Prix.
Team orders had been banned in F1 since 2002 thanks to a similar incident involving Ferrari, although there have always been allegations of secret orders through many top teams since the ban.
In the wake of last Sunday’s events though, Ecclestone believes it is at the team discretion to have their drivers finish in a particular order, believing F1 to be a team sport rather than one of the individual.
“I must confess I would agree with anyone who thinks that [the team orders rule should be dropped],” said Ecclestone. “We make people call it a team, we say it’s got be a team.
“All the cars have to be exactly the same, the drivers wear the same overalls, so everybody has to look like a team – a team of people that are racing.
“I believe what people do when they are inside the team, and how they run their team is up to them. That’s my opinion.”
When asked if he would push for the rule to be dropped in his high profile position of power within the sport, he added ”I don’t know, we’ll have to see. It’s something that needs to be discussed.
“As far as I’m concerned a team is a team, and they should run it whichever way they want to run it.
“Nobody should interfere as to how they run their team.
“But of course if they do something that’s dangerous then obviously they’re going to be in trouble, otherwise get on with it.”
German GP 2010: Alonso Takes Controversial Victory – Ferrari Fined For Team Orders
Fernando Alonso has won today’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in highly controversial circumstances following team orders which led to Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa yielding the lead to Alonso.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was 3rd.
Race Review
Sebastian Vettel got a poor start off the line unlike Fernando Alonso but the German forced Alonso right into the wall of the pit straight. However the young German ignored Felipe Massa who took the lead, and some how Alonso managed to keep 2nd place.
Lewis Hamilton had a good start and jumped both Jenson Button and Mark Webber.
Immediately there was action and drama with overtaking and break downs. A proper classic race circuit in Hockenheim, albeit not the original track, was on for providing us with a classic.
Jarno Trulli had gearbox issues which really destroyed any chances of a good result for him and he made it back to the pits eventually. Down at the hairpin turn 6, Jaime Alguersuari back ended team mate Sebastian Buemi the Swiss driver lost his rear wing and was forced to retire immediately.
Adrian Sutil had a problem too and the German dived into the pits. Moments later Liuzzi pitted too, and it was only many laps later we learnt that the team had been expecting the cars in a different order hence why a front wing was ready for Sutil when he didn’t need one. This meant that Sutil had Liuzzi’s tyres and Liuzzi had Sutil’s. A bit of a blooper from Force India who had been proving themselves a point scoring team this season. The drivers pitted to swap as the rules stated.
Following the pit stops of the front runners, all except Jenson Button who went for a long run, Fernando Alonso was heavily hassling Felipe Massa who was clearly struggling with the hard tyre. The Spaniard was trying everything to pass, including an audacious move between Massa and back marker Sakon Yamamoto but couldn’t make it stick.
Further back, home hero Michael Schumacher was struggling to pass Robert Kubica but the German finally appeared to have some race spirit back.
Sauber’s Pedro de La Rosa had a crazy race full of overtakes and bumping with other cars, but he only managed 13th in the end. With Kobayashi 11th, neither Sauber managed points on Sauber’s 40th anniversary in motorsport.
It had been a mildly exciting race up until now but the best was yet to come. For the first time in a long time, clear team orders were asked of Felipe Massa. Massa himself now denies the team asked him to move aside, and that he told his engineer he wanted Alonso past. Massa appeared to have a slow get away from the hairpin and Alonso slipped passed. It was a bad moment for Ferrari according to many, most comparing it to 2002 in Austria.
Alonso went on to win the race, and Massa held on to second and Vettel made third. Hamilton was 4th and Button was 5th, points again for McLaren who now have 300 in the constructors title.
Webber was 6th, although he had an oil consumption problem. It will be interesting to see if that affects the engine next week.
With regard the Ferrari team order situation, the team have been fined $100,000 and will have to appear in front of the World Motorsport Council. The classification remains unchanged.
Race Result – POST FIA
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1.28.38.866 |
| 2 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +4.196 |
| 3 | S. Vettel | Red Bull Renault | +5.121 |
| 4 | L. Hamilton | McLaren Mercedes | +26.869 |
| 5 | J. Button | McLaren Mercedes | +29.482 |
| 6 | M. Webber | Red Bull Renault | +43.606 |
| 7 | R. Kubica | Renault | +1 lap |
| 8 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes Benz | +1 lap |
| 9 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes Benz | +1 lap |
| 10 | V. Petrov | Renault | +1 lap |
| 11 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber Ferrari | +1 lap |
| 12 | R. Barrichello | Williams Cosworth | +1 lap |
| 13 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams Cosworth | +1 lap |
| 14 | P. De la Rosa | Sauber Ferrari | +1 lap |
| 15 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso Ferrari | +1 lap |
| 16 | V. Liuzzi | Force India Mercedes | +2 laps |
| 17 | A Sutil | Force India Mercedes | +2 laps |
| 18 | T. Glock | Virgin Cosworth | +3 laps |
| 19 | B. Senna | Hispania Cosworth | +4 laps |
Retirements
| Driver | Team | Lap | Reason |
| H. Kovalainen | Lotus Cosworth | 58 | Unknown |
| L. di Grassi | Virgin Cosworth | 51 | Failure following spin |
| S. Yamamoto | Hispania Cosworth | 20 | Unknown |
| J. Trulli | Lotus Cosworth | 4 | Gearbox |
| S. Buemi | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1 | Rear wing |
Post Race Penalties
Scuderia Ferrari – $100,000 for bringing the sport into disrepute through team orders
Heikki Kovalainen – Reprimand, no penalty due to incident with De la Rosa
Force India – Reprimand, no penalty for giving drivers wrong tyres
