There was not a hint of applause in the FIA Media Centre in Germany when Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line to “win” the German Grand Prix. The race was given to him in lap 49 when his team-mate Felipe Massa slowed down and ostentatiously allowed the Spaniard to move ahead. It is not clear where there is any satisfaction in such a thing but Ferrari got a 1-2 and at least Alonso looked happy. It would have been a better story – and more Ferraris would have been sold – if Felipe had won on the anniversary of his accident last year in Hungary. Now that would have been a great story. Instead we have another negative story. When the Ferrari press officer arrived in the Media Centre he went straight on to the defensive, without anyone even suggesting that the whole thing was a farce. That said it all. If Alonso was faster he could have proved it by overtaking Massa. Instead he whined on the radio (as usual) and in the end Massa was “convinced” to let him move ahead.
Sebastian Vettel finished third, but Ferrari’s real enemy (apart from those with a sense of sport) is McLaren: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished fourth and fifth and added another 22 points to the total in the Constructors’ Championship.
No doubt in the coming days there will much talk of team orders and all the rest of it. It would be so much better if we could be discussing sporting ideals and great races.
joeblogsf1 
Stefano says “we had to take the result we needed”. So stuff the rules, Ferrari clearly believe they are above the rules. Disgusting……………..
Shameful display. The body language from both drivers makes it crystal clear that something has happened. FIA has to act. Team orders clearly took place. Felipe was off the throttle when he should have been on it and Fernando was through. I would much rather have been celebrating a Massa anniversary in grand style. While I would be sad to see Felipe loose a 2nd place I think the FIA has to DQ Ferrari elevating Vettel to first. It’s the only thing they can do.
+1
Well put as usual Joe, and although we would all love the races to be completely fair contests between the drivers, but the fact remains that this is a team sport, and for many years the teams were free to “arrange” the results in the manner most advantageous to them.
My personal belief is that it should either be open slather with team orders, or find some method of “filtering” the radio transmissions to the drivers, perhaps via FIA radio operators.
Or…………….single car teams……but who really wants that?
Perhaps the radios should be banned?
Such a complex issue for a small brain like mine……..perhaps you, Joe, could offer some suggestions?
Regards,
Peter
The rule against team orders was put in to prevent exactly this. The FIA has full access to team radio. Why was this not even “investigated by the stewards”. Do you know what the penalty would be Joe? The team is at fault, but obviously it would be unfair to penalise Massa. The team could lose constructors’ points after the race, but it seems that Race Control should have told Alonso to give the position back (via the team, of course) – and if he/they refused, as in Silverstone, he should get a drive through or 25 second post race penalty – which I think would put him 3rd.
Deeply, deeply disappointed by the whole farrago. Ferrari yet again proving that they have a tin ear where the fans (who ultimately pay for the whole thing) are concerned, and Fernando doing yet more to prove that his initial, boyish persona was nothing like the real him. I lost respect for Schumacher as a person just because of behavior like this.
Will the FIA do anything? No.
Quite right Joe,
Ferrari were disgusting today. When Massa and Alonso were racing earlier in the race it was an excellent spectacle. If Alonso is as amazing as he clearly thinks he is, why couldn’t he overtake Massa? If he’s so brilliant, let him prove it on track rather than whining on the radio.
Alonso is still the same paranoid, self-obsessed whinger we saw at McLaren in 2007. And he’s been gifted another race just like in Singapore 2008.
He must be the most disliked driver in the sport right now.
Simon
I cannot understand how Alonso expects anyone to respect him.
It seems to be more politics than sport this year….
In a wonderful addendum to the whole story, I have just witnessed on Italian TV no other than Michael Schumacher explaining at length (in Italian! after having refused to speak the language in 10-odd years in Maranello…) why these things are “right” because “only one in a team can win”.
Now…
Really sad. I can’t believe there is not a penalty.
Absolute farce! Either team orders are allowed, or they are not. If the FIA let Ferrari get away with this ‘rule breaking’, where do you stop? Personally, I think the big loser from all of this is Alonso, who seemingly left McLaren because they wouldn’t impose team orders. I was never really a fan, but it seems that Ferrari were the right team for him after all the years of Schumacher doing the same thing. I thought we’d got past that kind of rubbish now.
Massa should have won, unless Alonso could have passed him FOR REAL. This choreographed bullshit makes the sport look stupid, at a time when credibility is in short supply.
Anything other than a disqualification of both Ferrari cars would be an insult to the intellect of every person having watched the race and heard the radio communication!
Joe, could not agree more, Ferrari yet again prove think they are above the law and seem to score a PR own goal. Stinks of Austria 2001 and Austria 2002.
For the good of the sport, teammates must be allowed to race one another. This doesn’t mean they have to take each other out of the race by rash moves, but give it a good fight. Isn’t this why we watch, for a good fight? It seems we go over this same ground every few years.
It bugs me that somehow F1 after each and every leaves the fans discussing rules and the latest controversy instead of you know … the sport.
I m not naive enough to think team orders aren’t a part of the sport, I m sure they are. All those safe fuel etc messages can be team orders in disguise. However what Ferrari did today was pretty blatant. I m not advocating punishment, I m fine with no punishment but abolish the damn rule in that case. Else it just comes across as slightly ridiculous.
It’s very disappointing. Felipe deserved the victory today.
Schumacher was criticized in the past, but Alonso is not more sportive, even if he plays the innocent by asking “what’s happened to Massa”.
I love Ferrari, but after this race I hope that Alonso and Ferrari won’t win the titles this year.
Joe do you think the Fia will investigate the incident between Massa and Alonso… is there room to penalise ferrari yes a hollow victory…
I see I’m not the only one who considers Alonso a whiner… poor Massa. He needs to be kept motivated, and now… well, wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari lose out on the constructor’s championship.
Either team orders are banned, and Ferrari will be punished for breaking the rules, or team orders are NOT banned, in which case the rules should be amended as they don’t accurately reflect the way Formula 1 is being conducted. I for one turned the race off in disgust when Alonso passed.
Imagine the moaning from Ferrari if another team had done that…
Sad. Well put Joe. And EJ. Even wondered if Massa would let Vettel and more through at the end just to spite the management. Would not be surprised if he just up and quit instead of seeing through the farce.
The thing that strikes me is that Ferrari does bad deeds for so little in return. As it happened in Zeltweg with Schumacher-Barrichello, it’s just an handful of championship points (and no difference in constructor points) toward an uncertain result for year’s end. In this case, Alonso would have 5 less points (light points of 2010).
To get that little return, you risk a penalty, you lose face, you lose – as Joe pointed out – the chance to hail “Felipe’s comeback” exactly one year later, you alienate Brazilian fans, etc. It’s simply not worth it! You wonder who really makes such idiotic decisions in Maranello.
Personally for me the race was ruined by that team order. I was cheering for Felipe as I think he has had a hard time in the team this season with Fernando the new favourite of the team and of the new main sponsor coming in and with his injury last season no doubt giving himself a bit doubt about whether he can still win races in F1 – today he proved he can run at the front but his team proved they have evolved back to what they did with Michael.
I think both Ferrari and Alonso are big pathetic crybabies and I won’t feel one bit sorry for them if they lose every time they go out racing.
In a way Ferrari and Alonso are a perfect match – both are emotionally fragile and both resort to crying way, way too easily. But they seem to enjoy each other whining and crying and complaining so I guess both are happy.
Apparently the stewards are investigating this, Ferrari have been called before them.
Criminal. If the FIA do not disqualify Alonso and fine Ferrari heavily this so called sport will have plumbed new depths. We are repeatedly told F1 cannot survive without Ferrari. I disagree.
Ferrari’s championship rivals will no doubt be keeping this in the news to destabise the team. It will also keep F1 in the papers over the summer break.
All very disappointing IMHO, Massa deserved better (but then one can argue he still has his job).
Oh, and Fernando Alonso is probably the biggest hypocrite this sport has ever witnessed.
He has been contradicting himself so many times that I have lost count actually. Just read his interviews starting from a few years back and you’ll see…
“won’t support red cars” umm, what?
“racing for mclaren has been my dream since I was a small child” well, it didn’t last long…
…then it quickly changed to a desperate “I want to race the red cars”. Umm what the hell, Fernando, go back to read what you said about the red cars in 2006.
Yeah, and about the Singapore 2008 win, he’s very proud of it! There you go – that shows the true character of the man.
And more – we get only more. This man will accept ‘luck’ any time it goes his way, but when it doesn’t, he’s going to cry that the race has been fixed and so on.
But that’s very well in line with the arrogance of the Ferrari team, they think they are *entitled* to win and if they don’t, they are going to blame everyone else but themselves and cry foul where there is none.
Fernando Alonso is a disgusting man, not just as a F1 driver, but as a person overall. No backbone, and very insecure. A far cry from the men of the North! I’ll take a quiet Finn any time over this spineless joke of a man.
A hollow victory indeed Alonso and Felipe didn’t look comfortable after the race, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth
I don’t see how this is any different (in principle) to Briatore asking Piquet Jnr. to spin inorder to allow (surprise surprise) Alonso to gain extra points.
The FIA has shown it’s able to punish Italians, why should they hold back now?
At least Mark and Seb will be able to concentrate on driving for a while.
At lest Eddie Jordan got it right when he said on the BBC feed that if Alonso wanted the race win he should pass Massa for it. Then of course Bundle droned on in an above it all tone, about the “best for the team’ and ‘contracts’ like nobody should get into flap about it because it was, well, not like Austria when Ferrari didn’t need to do it and some other pointless excuse.
On Eddie news. did anyone nobble Eddie’s mic as Ron did at Silverstone?
Hi Joe.
Yet again the super whinge Alonso gets his own way. Next time l go to work and l don’t get my way will moaning about it sort everything out?
The better man lost.
What a poor decision that was.
Of course it becomes obvious looking at a picture of the trophy presentation – It looks much better to a Spanish sponsor if they are paying for the headline sponsorship of the race and also the team if one makes the Brazilian move over for the Spanish driver to win.
The thing is this. I rate Alonso as one of the quickest and most complete drivers out there. Why does he need the team to get all the other cars out of the way? He’s got the ability to do it properly so why doesn’t he?
Why making rules?If the FIA does not take any action Formula 1 is a joke.It looks that at Ferrari they really think the fans believe their lies.
Well, if Alonson is quicker then Massa then why is Massa who was in front of him has to understand the message from the team… they might as well said some coded words like “sardines” next time!
I just have to say 3 things:
1. Even if Alonso was faster, he should have battled to overtake, not be given the place back on a plate. Can he not overtake anymore? It is indeed a very hollow victory – just like the one in Singapore 2008 but Alonso was happy to accept both as true wins. I think Alonso is a despicable “sportsman” – he is a cheat and a bad character who wants to win at all costs.
2. Massa may be a “nice person” but he has no balls to roll over like that.
3. Ferrari should get be penalised and thrown out of the race. That would be the only just decision.
Do hope that Massa doesn’t get his 2nd taken away from him, I can’t see how they can penalise Alonso without penalising the team…. And if they do take both results away does that mean Ferrari will start throwing teddies out of their cot again. There is some sweet irony in Todt being the man in charge at the FIA this time when it was he instigated the whole thing last time.
Do wonder if Rob S might end up the receiving end of a few wrist slaps, he didn’t exactly try to hide what was going on, he must have been totally disgusted
Do not worry.
Ferrary will be penalized, with a very strong penalty.
Of course, it were Hamilton/McLaren, the penalty would have been ridiculous.
It’s been like this for a long time.
You are absolutely right, Joe. I, personally, have the very disgusting feelings after this race. And all this cynical comments of Shumacher… Of course, I’d be rather discussing great races but I guess it’s almost impossible nowadays.
Today has been the real comeback of Michael Shumacher no matter that now he’s called Fernando Alonso…
I am just an anonymous F1 fan and nobody ultimately cares about me or my opinions. But……there are doubtless many people like me, who are “fed up with watching (boy) drivers, who if they can’t win fair and squarely on the track, resort to childish antics” and are now turning their backs on the sport.
I certainly will never again to watch a race, when I know that the result is likely to be fixed, or when either Vettel or Alonso are racing.
These two are the most egotistical, arrogant and jumped up drivers on the track today and I’d rather watch a whole series of Eastenders or Big Brother, Ieven listen to an hour or James Allen) rather than watch these two clowns any more.
I am just an anonymous F1 fan and nobody ultimately cares about me or my opinions. But……there are doubtless many people like me, who are “fed up with watching (boy) drivers, who if they can’t win fair and squarely on the track, resort to childish antics” and are now turning their backs on the sport.
I certainly will never again pay to watch a race, when I know that the result is likely to be fixed, or when either Vettel or Alonso are racing.
These two are the most egotistical, arrogant and jumped up drivers on the track today and I’d rather watch a whole series of Eastenders or Big Brother, Ieven listen to an hour or James Allen) rather than watch these two clowns any more.
I was amazed when I heard the first radio transmission during the race… Not that covert team orders never happen, but for it be so blatant…
Going into this race, many people were admiring a resurgent Ferrari, in particular Alonso, who has come off a series of torrid races where is things had rolled a bit differently he might have done better. At the same time, many people were starting to gently write Massa off.
Now, coming out of the race, Alonso looks very cheap (especially the complaining on the radio) and Massa looks as fast as ever, and more crucially, has only added to his dignity. So, Alonso has a handful more point at the cost of his reputation taking a beating, as well as Ferrari’s. The only guy who will come out of this well in the long run I think will be Massa.
Rob Smedley’s second radio transmission where he said “sorry” spoke volumes. His tone certainly was that of a man who hated what he was being required to do.
100,000 fine? Ah, who cares…
Alonso is not a true champion when he complains on the radio that Massa will not let him past, then the team manager orders Massa to let poor little Alonso past, what a joke of a sportsman, his career is tarnished forever. Im glad I am not a Spainard or an Italian tonight.
Ferrari learned nothing from Austria 2002 and Enzo’s great brand is being diminished again by short sighted fools.
If the FIA do nothing concrete that truly punishes Ferrari for breaking the rule put in place after Ferrari did exactly the same thing 8 years ago, then their rules are a joke, the FIA are a joke, Bernies’ new bosses investment is diminished, and the spectators lose interest, then the sponsors, then the promotors cannot pay the huge fees. etc…its not the recipe for growth is it?
Alonso should be disqualified and the team fined one engine. Then no one else will do it again.
It left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s unfortunate that this happened, but drivers like Alonso could also encourage things of the sort. I’m just hoping they get penalized for this, otherwise all the other teams will use this as precedence.
The funny thing is that Hamilton won the same race in 2008 because Kovalainen let him trough. Of course it was done in not so obvious way, nevertheless it was exactly the same crime. But there wasn’t any outcry from the journalists about team orders and hollow victory. This brings the question what do you really want from the sport – fair play or simply better acting?
Whilst its not the way i would have liked Ferrari to win team orders have been a part of F1 before and now.
Sooner or later Alonso would have passed Massa,even when he slowed down and there was a 4 second gap within a few laps he was on Massa,s tail again,and lets not forget Alonso does not make team orders,his employers do rightly or wrongly,in this case my opinion is they were right even if the scenario could have been “acted” better,and what would you expect Alonso to do,say no?
I can understand how people feel,yet in the cold light of day the “team” rules,and considering how Ferrari have had to react with Red Bull and Mclaren running away,its no surprise,yet some posters seem to forget how other drivers have benefitted from team orders and still do,why did Button back off against Hamilton at Turkey? 2008 Hamilton v kovalinnen? why didn,t Button challenge Hamilton today at Hokenhiemring?
F1 Fans want to see battles and overtakes, and not just naughty team orders.
This could have been a redemption race for Ferrari – but they made it all of a mess
Alonso should take no joy from this obviously hollow victory.
The only “ridiculous” thing is Fenrnado’s grandiose sense of entitlement. If he wants to pass someone, then let him do it on his own, at full chat, on the track. That is, after all, why he’s paid millions, right? He couldn’t do it with Lewis at Indy in his McLaren days, and he couldn’t do it with Felipe today.
Ferrari’s insulting behavior displays its utter contempt for the fans, who they must feel are too stupid to figure things out (no matter how obvious), or too insignificant to matter.
joe
clearly you are not a FA fan. i am, i would of been happy with second today, even third, no matter. however i think it is very disingenuous to call fenando and ferrari guilty and the like, they made a tactical decision, happens all the time in F1, much more so in the golden ear of F1. they (ferrari) did not want to compromise there position… do i have to go into the redbull affair a couple of races a go, or jenson and lewis in the same race. and wasn’t there team orders there as well? “don’t overtake.” regardless of fuel or crashing each other out, it is still a “TEAM ORDER” and to your point that alonso is a whiner. they are all whiner. lewis whined to his team when he thought jenson was given a better strategy earlier this year. micheal has whined though out his entire career. rubens whined last year when he thought jenson was handed the better pit stop strategy. people whine and all the time. f1 is no different. the way red bull told weber in and earlier race to the he was to hold station and not try to pass vettel, if that doesn’t qualify for team orders then what does. back to being disingenuous, what was the alternative, let them race and risk a crash. what should really be the point here is, was FA telemetry showing him faster or was massa’s faster, and who ever was quickest should proceed first. i can only present this as an argument bases on logic, faster diver go ahead, slower diver give way, i am not sure what your opinion was in the MS era, but where was the media in all the team orders then? were you as critical of ferrari and MS then? if so then you are a man that is consistent. if the positions of these two drivers been different today, had FA had to yield the position would you, joe, be as critical of massa? again, if so great, you have balance and a sense of fairness that most media do not. but i think that you are projecting way too much on the character of FA and also FM. for you to determine that one is villain and one is a innocent is to me very naive and inconsistent with the sport of F1.
John Pierre Rivera
It has got nothing to do with being a fan of Alonso or anyone else. I am a fan of the sport. It is more important than any team strategy and Ferrari never seems to consider the implicatons of its actions on the sport as a whole. This is why I am critical of what happened. I am happy to see Alonso win if he really can win. Being given the win is not winning. End of story.
Suggest most of you read Andrew Benson’s article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/07/team_orders_rule_ties_f1_in_kn.html for a less emotional response to this. Who is being “cheated” exactly when the chance now exists for a 5 way title fight?
Michael Ughes,
I am a great fan of Andrew and indeed gave him his first job in motor racing back in the Autosport days. I rate his work very highly and think his ethics are spot on. If there was less emotion involved it is simply because Andrew works for the BBC and has to be more measured than an individual writing on his own blog. Andrew is just as passionate as I am about these things – and in some respects he may even be more passionate.
Going forward, I am now going to refer to Fernando Alonso as, ALOONso.
As much as I would have liked Massa to have won at Hockenheim yesterday (just like Barichello in Spanish GP 2009), it is fact that team orders have always existed in F1. Its just that who implements them and who gets benefited makes the difference on how the F1 pundits comment.
Question – When the Brawn screwed Rubens (by sneaking strategy), did the British Press show this care and concern for F1/Motorsports?
Answer – No. Rather the British press immediately after Oz’09 started singing tunes of how Brawn GP should galvanize forces around Jenson, since Jenson is young and has long term future with the team. Rather Rubens was butt of all the jokes and his interview was ridiculed around the globe needlessly.
Come 2010 when Christian Horner did try to build team around Young “German” driver, there was hue and cry from the British quarters of favoritism….
Fact – 2008 season, right from get go(first race of the season) “Finnish” driver in British team was heavy fuelled in qualifying thus preventing the Finnish driver to compete fair and square with his “British” team-mate. All the team had to do was release customary press release end of every race “Fuel corrected Heikki was faster than Lewis in qualifying, but qualifying mid pack means his race was compromised by traffic”.
Question – Did the F1 Pundits raise questions on the “questionable” qualifying strategy which handicapped the Finnish driver, by a team that charades of “letting its drivers race”? Answer – Big No.
Giving preferable strategy to one driver over other is nothing short of “team orders”
Moral of the story – F1 pundits are least concerned about the betterment of the sport or for the fans. They just want to stir the pot to create sensationalism around what otherwise was a pretty mundane F1 race.
Guess who must be happy with this sensationalism and scandal that keeps F1 in news between race weekends, Yes the very bloke who gives “accesses” and pampers these F1 pundits during the race weekends.
Nothing else but an elaborate hoax I say, well scripted soap opera, where so called F1 pundits too contribute by cashing on their “credibility”.
Doing fair evaluation, enlightening lay fans, improving knowledge of fans about motorsports, that would be the right thing to do, but of course it would be tad too boring.
Rather creating senseless divide among uninformed fans, who simply lap the “opinions” of these so called F1 pundits and wage futile wars against other fans, is more satisfying I guess.
Keep the good work. Nice informative article
I had to watch on FOX’s intentional 24hr delayed airing of this round, so I suppose I could have avoided the disgust I felt when I saw Massa pull to the side by simply reading the headlines.
This is pathetic. You don’t see NASCAR’s Jimmy Johnson pulling over to let Jeff Gordon through (as teamates). Nor will you see this in ALMS, or the US Rolex Series, or DTM, or MotoGP… Ferrari are smearing F1’s reputation weekend to weekend and it’s getting repulsive. I haven’t read the rest of sunday’s posts yet but I expect legions of fans have the same feelings. Disgust and revulsion.
Will Ferrari never learn! And once again the FIA/stewards let them off with a light fine. Maybe the WMSC will apply a stronger penalty, but I won’t holding my breath……..
Ferrari is a giant car company famous for manufacturing sports car. It happens sometimes as Ferrari team has humans, mistakes should be avoided and find the new innovative way to make sure that it wont repeat again and I am pretty sure they will take care of it next time. I will always support Ferrari no matter what, Alonso is the best
I remember reading comments like this 8 years ago when exactly the same thing happened and nothing has changed. The year before that Barrichello was told to give 2nd place to Schumacher at the same race. After the race Ferrari said he would never be asked to give up a win. The follwing year he was told to give up the win.
Ferrari will do exactly the same again in future because Ferrari thinks only of Ferrari and does not care if other people think they are cheating because enough people are prepared to back them regardless what they do.
So when they have a filming day they use it to test new parts on the car. Everyone knows that is illegal. Ferrari knows it is illegal but Ferrari just does not care because they can gain an advantage and it is of no concern to them whether they break the rules or not.
Ferrari do always seem to have an advantage I always find it remarkable how teams such as Renault compete in such a way