F1 Update from the iSport F1 Pitstop: iSporter and Ferrari writer Maharshi Vaishnav gives his perspective on controversial team orders. He also says that team orders have been a part of F1 since the early 1930s. A MUST READ!
'Ferrari 'cheats' left in a fix’….'Outrage but no surprise as F1 hits a new low after Fernando Alonso usurps Felipe Massa at Hockenheim'….‘Alonso's victory to order revives bad old ways from Ferrari'….'F1 fury as Ferrari 'fix' German Grand Prix'….
These were the headlines dominating major tabloids across the world. World sporting media is abuzz with obituaries of the sport, Ferrari’s shamelessness, Alonso’s brazenness, Massa’s selflessness etc. demonstrated at the German GP. And the brouhaha surrounding the ‘German-gate’ just isn’t dying. The penalty received by Ferrari too has been most discussed in various forums.
It is great to see fellow iSporters too expressing their perspectives with Kunal Shah & Gunjan Shah vehemently blasting Ferrari and Avinash Ranganatha justifying Ferrari’s stance.
I have had very mixed emotions over this. While watching the race, I was quite stunned and furious at Ferrari’s move. I had all intentions to vilify Ferrari over this. But then on hindsight, I wonder whether the regulation policing makes sense considering that all and sundry involved in modern day Formula 1 are party to it.
Let us try and get a few things straight here. Formula 1 these days is about the ever growing confusion about pure racing vs. business; drivers vs. teams; teams vs. administrators and more. I don’t think it is so much about who wins after bypassing whom; the only aspect that matters is the win and the accompanying millions that come with it. Wish somebody thought about the viewers who either spend their moneys….their time….or worst both to catch whatever that the F1 jamboree dishes out.
So why are we so appalled? Now team orders have been in play for as long as motorsports and teams have existed. During the early pre-war years, it was a much simpler logic. The guys owning the cars / teams had the first dash at the flag. The guys borrowing the cars for racing were obliged to hand over the lead whenever the guys owning the cars came up behind them. The second driver concept essentially originated from that era.
Just to give a historical measure of team orders here, in the 1930s and the 1940s the Mercedes GP and the Alfa Romeo teams were notorious for team orders. Even the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio benefited out of team orders. His team mate Peter Collins was asked by Enzo Ferrari to move aside so that Fangio would win the 1956 World Championship.
1960s and 1970s was again about Ferrari, Ford and Lotus enforcing team orders. It was pretty well known that Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) and Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari) had official ‘second driver’ contracts with Lotus and Ferrari that explicitly favored Mario Andretti and Jody Scheckter respectively.
1990s saw a slew of team orders. Aryton Senna benefited over Gerhard Berger at McLaren Honda (1991), Damon Hill benefited over David Coulthard & Jacques Villeneuve at Williams (1994 & 1996), Mika Hakkinen benefited over David Coulthard at McLaren Mercedes (1997 onwards) and Eddie Irvine benefited over Mika Salo and Michael Schumacher (strange but true) at Ferrari (1999).
In fact the 1998 Australian GP with McLaren Mercedes’s team orders favoring Mika Hakkinen made the FIA take notice of blatant team orderings for the first time. Although as always, ambiguity prevailed when the FIA announced that “any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition” will be penalized severely. Now, this isn’t exactly banning it!!
Ferrari led the way in team orders in the 21st century with the infamous ‘Austria-gate’ and others where Barrichello was forced to obey team orders so that Schumacher and Ferrari won multiple Championships. Such was the furore then, that the FIA actually came forward and banned team orders.
However, lest we forget, Ferrari is not the only team that’s been blatant. To name a few in the last few years; the 2007 Monaco GP where Lewis Hamilton was forbidden to overtake teammate Fernando Alonso, the 2008 Singapore GP now immortalized for ‘Nelson-gate,’ Brawn GP’s open support for Button over Barrichello throughout 2009 and more recently, Mark Webber’s open banter about his ‘number 2’ driver status.
Now that the ‘hand in glove’ association of F1 and team orders has been established, I would want to do a bit of a prognosis. Why did it hit all of us so bad? These are my reasons for feeling disgruntled:
1. Rules be damned. Considering that team orders were banned post the ‘Austria-gate,’ Ferrari ideally should be the last team to break this rule.
2. Contempt for the sport and the paying customers (circuit audience / television viewers / fans)
3. Execution of team orders was so ‘on the face.’ Ferrari should have at least tried and made it look like a racing incident or a pit stop malfunction.
4. PR fiasco like no other. Ferrari hasn’t even tried to salvage it. Alonso, Domenicali and Montezemolo are speaking their minds off without thinking of the consequences.
5. With just 11/18 races completed in the season, I think it’s a bit too early to apply team orders. Yes, we have seen Lewis Hamilton missing out on a Championship by 2 points, which in ideal circumstances he would have gained, had to been allowed to win at Monaco in 2007. But then we are comparing 2 different points scoring systems.
6. Santander or otherwise, Alonso should learn to fend for himself. We all would agree that he has been the lone star for Ferrari this year but then Alonso should understand that he is the highest paid driver on the grid this year. So he better provide the bang for the buck. More importantly, no other team seems to be too keen to harbor him.
7. Contrived reason given to Massa. What is the big deal if Alonso was quicker than Massa? Massa had led 2/3rds of the race and it was only about conserving his car till the chequered flag. Ferrari could have rather asked Alonso to take it easy on the charge. Again, we all know Massa has been in shambles this season. But on his day, if he has a genuine chance, why rob him of it?
Amidst all this, the only saving grace for an average tifosi like me was that Ferrari managed a much cherished 1-2 and a revival seems to be on the horizon. These pro and against arguments make me wonder what the FIA would do next.
Irrespective of whether the FIA amends the existing rule / recreates another rule, it would not be able to control team orders in Formula 1 and eventually the sport will suffer. We need to understand and accept it the way it is.
Either ways, iSport will anyways be available for the fans….by the fans….
The German GP did see a difference in the Drivers and Constructors World Championship. Do check the effects!
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Asif Khan
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... Fantastic article MV, really good insight into the history of team orders! I think it was Massa and his engineer who made it obvious to the whole world and why not they were justified in what they did. If the Ferrari boss wanted to issue the team order he should have played safe and asked Massa himself, asking Smedley to do it was a big mistake! Semdley's tone was so obvious and I am sure he did it intentionally knowing well that the media will catch the wind. |
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