Should team orders be legal? This was the question asked by everyone after the German Grand Prix where Ferrari allowed Fernando Alonso to win the race. The team was penalised after their actions but the team orders will not be banned from the next season.
The race apparently would have been won by Felipe Massa who was in a strong position. After that, Ferrari sent some coded messages to the Brazilian driver to allow his Spanish team-mate to overtake him. Massa slowed down and moved out of the way of Alonso
giving him a victory.
This was not considered a legal action and the motor sports governing body, FIA decided to take action against the Ferrari team. After the investigation, the Ferrari team was fined and was advised to avoid such decisions which hurt the spirit of the game.
Most of the teams predicted that this ban on the team orders would be removed by the FIA following the Ferrari incident. The FIA now confirmed that the ban has been lifted from the teams to give team orders.
This rule will be applied from the next season onwards but the FIA has made it clear that the team found guilty of hurting the image of the sport will be penalised. Therefore, the teams are suggested to use this rule with caution.
In a similar 2002 incident, team Ferrari ordered Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello to give away his spot to Michael Schumacher allowing the German to win the race.
Even though the ban has been lifted, the teams may decide to avoid the team orders as they might be penalised if any disrepute is brought to the sport. This clause may keep the teams hesitant. The clause which is stated in the rule-book warns, “Any fraudulent
conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sports generally.”
The FIA has also decided to use green engines by the 2013 season. These engines will help increasing the fuel efficiency by 35%. The decision to switch from the 2.4-litre V8s came after some tough negotiations. From 2013, the cars will be using 1.6-litre
four cylinder units which will also have energy recovery systems and fuel restrictions. This step is also taken to popularise the use of the green engines in common public.
Amongst the teams that were reluctant on the decision of the green engine were Ferrari and Mercedes. Both the teams felt that the green engines would be an unnecessary step as FIA has been keen on reducing the costs. The move was also not backed by Formula
1 commercial boss, Bernie Ecclestone considering it a bad idea by the FIA.
The new engines will be able to do 12,000 rpm compared to the V8s which do 18,000 rpm. The total power output will remain at the same level at approximately 750 bhp.
This step can also be aimed at attracting some sponsors which do not invest in F1 considering it as a sport which is wasteful with the resources. In the coming years, F1 will also bring the turbo-charging technology known as “compounding” which will be a
further step towards the better fuel efficiency.
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