Ferrari rapped amid team orders probe
FERRARI were last night slapped with a $100,000 fine by the FIA after appearing to implement team orders following their one-two at the German Grand Prix.
The Italian team could face further sanctions from the sport’s governing body after Felipe Massa let team-mate Fernando Alonso past to win the race and close the gap at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Exactly a year after fracturing his skull in a freak crash at the Hungarian GP, Massa, stole a march on his team-mate and pole-setter Sebastian Vettel at the first corner and looked set to record a first win of the season.
But with 18 laps to go, Ferrari’s race engineer Rod Smedley suddenly announced over the team radio: “Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?”
Massa responded by letting the Spaniard through moments later to which Smedley added: “Good lad. Just stick with it now, sorry”.
Ferrari, however, insist that no instructions were given to their drivers and say the incident was a “driver decision”.
Asked his views on the incident afterwards, Massa simply said: “I don’t need to say anything about that. He passed me.”
But Red Bull boss Christian Horner, whose driver Sebastian Vettel finished third at his home grand prix, fumed: “I have to say that is the clearest team order I’ve ever seen. It’s wrong for the sport. The drivers should have been allowed to race.”
As a result, Alonso closes the gap at the top of the drivers’ championship to 34 points with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton still leading the way after beating team-mate Jenson Button into fourth. Defending champion Button now trails Hamilton by 14 points.
Of his victory, a sheepish Alonso said afterwards: “Sometimes you are quick, sometimes you are slow. It’s a very strong result for the team. I think it was a good weekend overall, we improved the car a lot. We performed very well.”
BRITISH GP | RACE STANDINGS
1. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1:27:38.864
2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +00:04
3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) +00.05
4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) +00:26
5. Jenson Button (McLaren) +00:31
STANDINGS | DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 157pts
2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 143
3. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 136
4. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 136
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 123