Formula One: Ferrari Repeated Its History of Ordering In the Team
It has become the order of the day now, after every Formula One race, a series of controversies and conflicts arise. Many of the analysts believe that the FIA rules, their penalties and their punishments all need to be worked upon, to save the sport from being unpopular, unfair and unclear in a number of ways.
The German Grand Prix held at Hockenheim the past weekend was another racing event that was followed by a storm of disagreements, as Ferrari was accused of affecting the race results unfairly and breaching the rules of FIA quite openly.
The team ended the race with one-two victory, as Fernando Alonso ended at the top place, whereas the other team driver Felipe Massa secured the second place on the podium. The team had been able to demonstrate a good pace all through the weekend, as they did pretty well in the qualifying as well. As the final race day unfolded, both the drivers were evidently fast, finally near the end while they were clearly ahead of all others. Massa, who was already leading the race slowed down to provide Alonso the opportunity to pass on.
Well, now that is forbidden!!! It is a clear breach of the FIA rules. As per Article 39.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, it is stated that 'Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.' With doing this in the race this Sunday, the team has broken a rule that was actually made because of them. In the year 2002, they were accused of ordering Rubens Barrichello to let Michael Schumacher pass at the Austrian Grand Prix. Nevertheless, it is history repeating itself, as no team has been found guilty under the rule so far.
Now that Ferrari had been found guilty, they have been charged for $100,000, the maximum that the stewards could ask for a penalty. As per the written rules, no clear indication is present for what the punishment should be for offending this article. In addition, the team has been charged for with a breach of article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code, which says that, 'Any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally.'
As the race ended, Ferrari's press officer Luca Colajanni denied completely for any sort of team ordering or any position swap.
He declared that it was "a driver decision" made by Felipe Massa independently and that they didn't give any instruction at all or violated any regulation. He simply stated that, "Fernando was slightly quicker at that stage, and we informed the drivers."
However, that is simply not acceptable by the other drivers, teams, the FIA officers, as well as the fans that come across the globe to watch fair and clean racing rather than the team preferences.
Well, the rules had been there and had been breached time and again. Formula One is one of the sports that involve huge budgets and big stake holders. It is not only about the drivers; rather it is about the constructors, the sponsors, as well as the fans. Many involved in the sport proclaim that ordering has always been in here and would always be. As teams need to decide, what results suit them the best and how they need to safeguard their future interests. Therefore, it is not very easy that ordering gets removed from the game all together and teams will continue doing it in ways that they do not get caught.
On the other hand, the race fans, for whom the sport is staged, say that the teams must be more strictly punished. Accused teams should be disqualified or the results must be reversed in order to eliminate this from the sport.
Finally, with such an act, Ferrari had once again defamed itself and of course, none of its fans or the fans of Alonso had been happy to see this.
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