Nice that Ferrari spiced things up with a forced pass.
Because of that, the coffers at Maranello will be $100k lighter and they get to
visit the World Motor Sports Council sometime in the future!
Ferrari has been fined $100,000 for being in breach of the FIA international
sporting code with regard to team orders during their 1-2 finish in the German
Grand Prix. The matter will also be referred to the FIA World Motor Sports
Council for further consideration.
It is not inconceivable, therefore, that Ferrari could face further sanction,
including loss of both drivers and/or constructors championship points.
Ironically, the ban on team orders was introduced in 2002 after Ferrari rather
cynically ordered Rubens Barrichello to move over and hand victory to Michael
Schumacher. At the time the decision enraged a number of fans and was made when
Schumacher was dominating the championship and Ferrari faced no threat from
anyone. It was viewed as wholly unnecessary and bad for the sport's image.
Team orders have been a part of motor racing's fabric since the championship
began, however, and the 2002 ruling has done little to stop them, only
necessitated that they are conducted with more subtlety.
On the surface, there is not a lot wrong with what Ferrari did at Hockenheim.
Unlike 2002, the team is playing catch-up in the world championship, we are
into the second half of the season and one of its drivers, Alonso, has a
realistic chance of re-launching a championship bid, whereas Massa went into
the German race 78 points behind series leader Lewis Hamilton. On top of that,
Alonso had been quicker than Massa all weekend and was only behind his team
mate because he started from the dirty side of the grid and was then almost
driven into the pit wall by Sebastian Vettel.
Unfortunately though, the existence of the team orders rule meant that the
world's media had to go through the charade of Ferrari team principal Stefano
Domenicali claiming that no order had been issued and that the team had merely
informed Massa that Alonso was faster and left any further action up to the
driver.
It was obvious to all and sundry what was going on as soon as Massa's engineer
Rob Smedley came on the radio with 21 laps to go and said, slowly and
pointedly, "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood
that message?" Shortly afterwards, without any subtlety at all, Massa did
not pick up full throttle out of the Turn 6 hairpin and Alonso swept by into
the lead. Smedley then came back on the radio to Massa, and said, "Good
lad. Sorry..."
Then, after the race, on the slowdown lap, Smedley added: "very, very
magnanimous. You won't know what that means but I will explain it to you
later..."
It is easy to understand the disappointment from the Massa side of the Ferrari
pit. It was a year to the day since Massa suffered his head injury when hit by
a rogue Brawn spring in qualifying for the Hungarian GP and it would have made
a fine human story for him to win his first race since on the very anniversary
day.
On the other hand, Alonso has suffered extreme bad fortune in the last three
grands prix and was the quicker Ferrari driver at Hockenheim. What the team did
made total sense in terms of their championship challenge. But will they be
made to pay any more than the $100,000 they are currently down?
"IF YOU CAN MEET WITH TRIUMPH AND DISASTER AND TREAT
THOSE TWO IMPOSTERS THE SAME"
CLYDE
Capt. Clyde Romero Jr.
MANPAD SME
Clyderomero [at] bellsouth.net
Mobile 678 641 9932
Confidentiality
Notice: This e-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act, 18 U. S. C., Sections 2510-2521, and is intended
only for the person or entity to which it is addressed, and may contain
confidential or privileged material. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure,
dissemination, copying, forwarding or distribution is prohibited.
If you are not
the intended recipient contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all
copies of the original message. If you are the intended recipient but do not
wish to receive communications through this medium please so advise the sender
immediately.
Electronic
Transmission Security Notice: E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be
secure or error-free. The sender does not accept liability for any errors or
omissions in the contents of the message that arise as a result of its
electronic (e-mail) transmission.
bellsouth.net)