Ferrari fix German Grand Prix for Fernando Alonso
There were muted celebrations as Fernando Alonso took the chequered flag yesterday at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim in controversial circumstances.
All associated with Formula One will know the race was fixed by Ferrari, as Felipe Massa, Alonso’s teammate, was effectively told to move out of the way and let the Spaniard through.
Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley came on the team radio to his driver and said: “Okay, so Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm you understood that message?” Put simply, the message was to let Alonso through, with team orders coming into play, which have been banned in Formula One since 2002. A few moments later, Massa moved aside to let Alonso take command of the race and the win. After the move, Smedley said: “Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.”
Massa started from third on the grid, with Alonso in second and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull on pole position. While Alonso and Vettel tussled heading into the tight first corner, Massa found a way through, and traded fastest laps with Alonso over the course of the grand prix. Ferrari insist they did nothing wrong and put the move down to a driver decision, even though they were fined $100,000 for breaking the rules. They also face further sanctions and will have a meeting with the World Motor Sport Council, which could result in a suspension or even a ban.
The events of the race brought echoes of Austria eight years ago. At the A1 Ring, Ferrari upset fans of the sport by ordering Rubens Barrichello to let Michael Schumacher through, even though he had been leading for the majority of the race. What made the situation worse was the race came at the early stages of the season, with both drivers in contention for the world championship.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali believes the decision the drivers made were for the best interests of the team on the track yesterday.
“I don't know if I have to explain to you what are team orders. What I can say from my side is that if you are referring to the situation we have in mind, we gave information to Felipe about what was the situation. Because we have already seen in the past that certain situations could not give the best result to the team. That was the information we wanted to give and we leave the drivers to understand and take notice of it in order to make sure the team, in terms of the global results, gets the best,” he said.
Surrounded by the media, the Italian was asked whether the radio message was obvious to let Alonso past. “That is what you say, I did not say that. But I have to repeat what I already said. There is nothing to add on top of what I said. The more that we have information or comments, it doesn't change the situation. Really it is, for sure, a shame that in a situation with a great performance everyone is focused on this thing. It is the most important thing again that we always consider the team interest as the best thing for us, at least. That is what I can say,” said Domenicali.
Alonso and Massa had different interpretations on the situation in the post-race press conference. “Well I think I don't know what happened. I saw Felipe a little bit slow and I took the opportunity. I think sometimes you are quick, sometimes you are slow, depending on what stage your tyres are, some parts maybe I was quicker than him, some parts he was pulling away from Sebastian and me,” said Alonso.
Massa held off the challenge of Alonso, who revealed his frustrations over the team radio, saying: “This is ridiculous.”
Massa was left disconsolate on the podium, and he said there are no team orders within Ferrari. “Absolutely not. I'm very professional and I've showed throughout my career how professional I am. You are professional as well, you work for a company. I believe you are doing what you have to do, so I'm professional and I showed how professional I am. That's it. For sure, you always want to win. That's always what we're working for. We don't have team orders, so you just need to do the race that you can and if you cannot do that you need to think about the team. I think that's the most important thing,” he said.
It was a year to the day that Massa suffered a fractured skull at the Hungarian Grand Prix after being struck by a part falling from the car in front. This weekend victory was on the cards to erase the memories and return to winning form, but Ferrari wanted it to be Alonso’s win.
“In my opinion this was not a case of team orders. My engineer kept me constantly informed on what was going on behind me, especially when I was struggling a bit on the hard tyres, so I decided to do the best thing for the team, and a one-two finish is the best possible result, isn’t it?” Massa said.
Massa was rewarded with a new deal that will keep him at the Scuderia until 2012, so maybe he had no choice but to let Alonso through to satisfy the team. Alonso now has the chance to win his third drivers’ title, only being 34 points behind McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, while Massa falls further behind, 72 points in fact.
In the long run, Alonso is the likely challenger for the world championship, but on merit Massa should have been the race victor at Hockenheim, and Alonso won the race by breaking the rules.
At the European Grand Prix, Alonso stated the sport’s governing body, the FIA, manipulated the race.
How the tables have turned.
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