Team orders taint F1 yet again by Ferrari

It couldn’t come worse for Felipe Massa. Exactly one year after his crash in Hungary that ruled him out for the rest of the year, his team have turned his back on him, and blatantly taken a rightful win off him. Of course, championship points are what Fernando needs at the moment, but this cannot cover what happened today.

This incident kicked off when Alonso was unable to make a move on Massa for the lead. He complained on the radio: “This is ridiculous”. Clearly, the heads of the team wanted Fernando to get through, and the engineers, specifically Rob Smedley, were fighting for the drivers to battle over the lead themselves. After many laps of arguing over the matter, Smedley dejectedly ordered Massa to lift and allow Alonso through.

After this, nobody on the pit wall spoke to each other, Smedley sitting there, with his arms folded, not saying a word. Stefano Domenicail was in between Smedley and Chris Dyer, who was similarly refusing to talk, although it is not known what side of the argument he was on.

The problem lies within the FIA’s inability to punish Ferrari for this blatant act of team orders. Firstly, the stewards will need to find hard evidence to hand out a penalty, and unfortunately “Fernando is faster than you” just doesn’t cut it as evidence. While there is 100% certainty that the race was manipulated by Ferrari, they have conveniently maneuvered themselves in such a way that they cannot realistically be punished. And secondly…. Jean Todt is FIA president. Do you trust him in this situation? I don’t. But it would be nice to be surprised.

If Ferrari were to be punished, excellent. Team orders would be fully banned (at least in situations in relation to the lead of the race), and it would not happen again. If that were the case, then I would be happy enough, and move on. But, Ferrari, even if they were summoned to the stewards, could use many other blatant team orders to defend themselves. Look at Kovalainen letting Hamilton through in Germany 2008, or Raikkonen and Massa in China ’08. The radio transmission “Driver X is faster than you” has previously been shown to work, and I don’t think that it will change this time.

So, we must point the finger of blame, but I don’t think it should be aimed at Fernando Alonso. While he certainly gained from this, it was the team who made the call, and they are the ones who need to be taught a lesson. On the other hand, Fernando’s complaining about “this is ridiculous” earlier on shows that he was expecting Massa to let him through, as opposed to what happened in Australia, when he was held up by Felipe all race long.

However, should we not criticise Massa, who was obviously slower than Alonso? When Fernando got through, he was up to half a second faster at points, and pulled out a 4 second lead by the end of the race. This situation would never have happened if Felipe had the pace to stay away from Fernando in the first place.

But that’s not justifying the team order. What happened today has happened many times before, and it needs to stop now. The McLaren and Red Bull bosses are saying that they treat their drivers equally (cough *Webber* cough), and that Alonso is gaining an unfair advantage by using Massa to help himself to some extra points, and this is perfectly true. Look at what happened in Turkey, when Vettel and Webber collided. While what happened was completely unnecessary, at least the team allowed them to race each other, rather than ruin the excitement (before the crash, that is) by issuing team orders.

In fact, the shining example of how to treat your drivers comes from McLaren, who have been excellent so far in giving equal treatment to both Button and Hamilton. While the “save fuel” incident initially caused concern, the team later said that it was a mistake by Hamilton’s engineer, and I would believe them. If the world championship ended today, then McLaren would totally deserve to win it. Button or Hamilton? Doesn’t really matter.

You know what the worst part of this is for me? While in London, I bought a Ferrari shirt, and I’m wearing it as I write this.  Looking back, not a perfectly timed purchase.

Ferrari were advised to allow Kubica through

FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting has revealed that he advised Ferrari 3 times to allow Robert Kubica through, after an overtaking incident with Fernando Alonso during the British Grand Prix. Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty during the race after he cut a corner battling with Kubica, overtook the Renault but failed to give the position back.

Ferrari were advised 3 times to hand the position back to Kubica

Under normal circumstances, after repeatedly advising Ferrari, this would have turned into an order to hand the position back, but since Kubica soon retired with unrelated mechanical issues, Alonso was unable to hand the position back. However, Charlie Whiting felt that Ferrari had plenty of time to instruct Alonso to let Kubica through, before the Renault retired.

Whiting claimed that, despite the penalty being issued many laps later, Ferrari were immidiately advised to hand the position back:

"We told Ferrari three times that in my opinion they should give the
position back to Kubica.

And we told them that immediately, right after the overtaking
manoeuvre. On the radio, I suggested to them that if they exchange
position again, there would be no need for the stewards to intervene.

But they didn't do that and on the third communication they said that
Kubica was by then too far back to let him regain the position.

It's not true at all that the stewards took too long to decide. For
us the facts were clear immediately: Alonso had gained an advantage
by cutting the track."

However, team principal Stefano Domenicali argued that, despite Alonso getting past Kubica, he didn’t gain an advantage:

"He tried to be aggressive to overtake, and we complained the 
drivers not to be aggressive and we complain about the lack of 
overtaking, and so at that stage, we felt as we normally do at 
that moment that we need to go on the radio with race control to 
check what is the position.

And normally, we take the right time to discuss with race control 
to make the judgement, and the moment when race control give us 
the instruction to give back the position to Robert, it was clear 
that Robert had already lost a lot of time - effectively he had a 
problem and he came back. That is the situation we analysed.

You can have a situation where immediately there is a possibility 
to give back the position to a driver if you feel that there is 
really an advantage that you gain. On our side we felt that was 
not the case otherwise we would have done it."

I was wondering after the race, why Ferrari didn’t complain loudly about the penalty being awarded, and this is clearly why. If Ferrari are pushing the rules that much just to gain one position, then they completely deserve any penalty that they get.

2010 Mid-season review: Ferrari

The season-opener in Bahrain was kind to Ferrari, in that a 1-2 finish was far beyond what the car actually deserved. Sebastian Vettel’s engine woes meant that both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were able to overtake and keep control of the race from there. However, since then, the season has not gone the way Ferrari would have wanted.

Lack of development has cost Ferrari 2nd in the championship to Ferrari

Pre-season testing showed Ferrari to have one of the fastest cars of the grid, and it later emerged that their tyre wear rates were much lower than their rivals, giving them an extra advantage. Their 1-2 finish, aided by the reliability issues of the Red Bull car, should have been an indicator of their pace for the entire season. In Melbourne, Massa was 3rd ahead of Alonso, although the Spaniard was unhappy after being held up by Felipe for most of the race. However, soon after this, Ferrari fell out of the development race.

Despite starting with the second fastest car, Ferrari were unable to keep up development at a fast enough pace. This is mainly due to the fact that they spent too much time trying to copy the F-duct system, which took several weeks of work, with only 0.3 seconds as a reward. By the time that they had finished, McLaren had soared away from them, and it shows in the race results. In Malaysia, neither Ferrari could indicate their pace, as a stupid strategy call in qualifying left them at the back of the grid. While they recovered to 7th and 9th, Alonso soon retired with an engine failure.

In the rain-affected China race, driver relationships were more hurt than anything else. As both Ferrari cars pitted on the same lap, Alonso overtook Massa, causing the Brazilian to drop down the grid, leaving Fernando to gain Felipe’s positions. Rumours of tension in the garage were swiftly swept away however. A home race podium was nice for Alonso in Spain, but he wasn’t able to challenge Mark Webber for the win. Since then, their pace has fallen away, as Massa hasn’t scored a point since Turkey. Aside from another podium in Canada, Alonso has only managed one 6th and two 8th places since Spain.

The reason for Ferrari’s drop in pace lies solely with the car. The time spent on the F-duct was a massive waste of time for the team, as marginal gains do not give a car raw pace. This shows in the fact that Ferrari have not got a pole position, the best way of indicating raw pace, since Brazil 2008. The drivers are well up to the task of getting wins for the team, but do not have the machinery to do so.

For the rest of the season, Ferrari have 2 difficulties to deal with: keeping Alonso and Massa happy, and developing the car to catch up to Red Bull and McLaren. While a few people have suggested that the team will soon turn their attention to 2011, although the fact that they are still in the championship race should be enough to keep them interested in this season.

Alonso furious, Ferrari calls race a “scandal”

Fernando Alonso dropped to 9th after the safety car

Fernando Alonso blasted the result of the European Grand Prix, calling it “unreal and unfair” after the safety car incident where he dropped from 3rd to 9th place, while Lewis Hamilton overtook the safety car and managed to keep his position, after a delayed drive-through penalty decision.

After the race, Fernando said:

"I think it was unreal this result and unfair as well.

We respected the rules, we don’t overtake under the yellows and we
finish ninth. That is something to think about.

It completely destroyed the race. Hopefully we can move forward
because after the victory of Vettel and podium for McLaren ninth
place is very little points for us.

We need to apologise to the 60 to 70 thousand people who came to
see this kind of race.

They gave a penalty already to Hamilton but it was too late – 30
laps to investigate one overtake."

Ferrari were similarly furious, describing the race as a scandal. Felipe Massa, Alonso’s team-mate, fell to 15th place and never recovered after the safety car. A team statement on their website read:

"A scandal, that’s the opinion of so many fans and employees who are
all in agreement: there is no other way to describe what happened 
during the European Grand Prix. The way the race and the incidents 
during it were managed raise doubts that could see Formula 1 lose 
some credibility again, as it was seen around the world."

First of all, they are both certainly correct in being furious at Lewis Hamilton, who managed to get away with overtaking the safety car, whether it was intentional or not. Meanwhile Alonso, who never broke the rules once, fell to 9th. The reason Hamilton didn’t lose any positions because of his drive-through is because the stewards took far too long to issue the penalty, by which time Lewis was able to create a large gap to stay ahead of Kobayashi after his penalty.

However, I must say that they are completely over-reacting when it comes to being annoyed about the safety car itself. Sometimes, drivers and teams lose out or benefit from the safety car deployment, and this cannot be avoided. I mean, look at Mercedes. Michael Schumacher fell to the back of the grid, and do you hear him whinging as loud as Ferrari? It is true that Schumacher wasn’t even in a points-scoring position, but it’s just an example.

Also, if Ferrari were to gain massively from the safety car, I doubt the other teams would complain as loudly as they would (Barrichello’s win in Germany 2000 springs to mind). In this case, when they lose out, they should just start thinking about how to get back up the field, but Fernando couldn’t even get past Sebastien Buemi.

While Ferrari are in the right, they need to learn that whining and over-reacting like this isn’t going to get them anywhere.

Ferrari use “promotional video” to test new modified F10

Fernando Alonso drove the Ferrari F10 at Fiorano on Thursday, to film for a “promotional video”, as well as entertaining guests at the track. However, an amateur video has shown that the F10 was using a modified rear end on the car, with a Red Bull style exhaust system.

As we know, in-season testing is banned this year to reduce costs. However, Ferrari have used the “promotional video” exception (not for the first time) to test their latest upgrade to the F10, which seems to be a copy of Red Bull’s exhaust system, which pushes exhaust gases into the diffuser.

The Red Bull exhaust-driven diffuser, which has since been copied by Ferrari

While this is quite cheeky from the team, it isn’t specifically against the rules, even if no other team does this. The team even joked about it in their statement: “You have to make the most of any opportunity in this era of the testing ban!” We will have to wait and see if Ferrari’s design makes it to the next race in Valencia.

Here is the amateur footage:

Massa’s Ferrari contract extended until 2012

Felipe Massa will continue to drive for Ferrari until the end of the 2012 season

Felipe Massa’s contract with the Ferrari team has been extended until the 2012 season. In an announcement today, the Brazilian said that he is able to continue racing with his “second family”. This is despite him being out-performed in many races this year by team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Felipe spoke today about his new deal with Ferrari:

"Throughout my entire Formula 1 career, I have always raced with an 
engine made in Maranello and it is a matter of pride for me to be 
able to continue working with a team that I regard as a second 
family."

Also, team principal Stefano Domenicali added:

"Felipe has been part of Ferrari for almost a decade and together 
with us, he has grown as a driver and as a man, going through some 
very difficult times as well as giving us moments of great 
happiness. We wanted to show proof of stability for the future, 
believing in the worth of a driver pairing that is without equal 
in terms of talent, speed and its ability to work together for 
the good of the team."

While this isn’t totally unexpected, I’m a little bit surprised by this news. Felipe has been beaten by Fernando 4 times out of 7 races so far this year, and it would have been more if it wasn’t for Fernando’s crash in Monaco, Massa holding him up in Australia, and Alonso’s engine failure in Malaysia.

With Ferrari having an unchanged line-up for the next 2 years, McLaren not going to change drivers any time soon, and Renault and Mercedes looking solid as well, this means that there will be very little driver transfers for next season. More on this later.

Di Montezemolo blasts new teams (again) in latest rant

Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari

Once again, Lucas di Montezemolo, the boss of Ferrari, has blasted Formula 1′s new teams, calling them “a joke”. In an interview with Autocar, he also expressed his will for 3-car teams, the return of in-season testing, and changes to the layout of a Grand Prix race.

Regarding the new teams, he said:

"There is a need to have competitive teams. F1 is like soccer. It
needs heroes and it needs big teams. You cannot equalize everything.
We need to avoid having too many small teams as it means too many
compromises."

Luca has made these sort of statements before, but since then, the new teams have made good progress to catch up, and are now only about a second behind the midfield. Why he finds the need to attack them when they have done nothing wrong, I don’t know.
He also suggested revisons to Formula 1, such as introducing 3-car teams (yet again) and bringing back in-season testing:

3-car teams: "Giving this car to a good young driver or Valentino
Rossi would be better than a team being four seconds behind."
Changes to race weekends: "Do we need to race at two in the
afternoon when everyone is at the sea. Could we have two races per
meeting? Do races need to last so long? F1 is not an endurance
race. We need races to be short and tough."
In-season testing: "F1 is the only sport in the world where there
is no training."

We all know by now that Di Montezemolo wants the intorduction of 3-car teams, as he has said it many times before. However, FOTA have never really discussed it, and few people are in favour of it, so I can’t see it happening.

The in-season testing ban has really hurt Ferrari, as they now cannot use their Mugello circit for most of the year. I would be in favour of reintroducing testing, but only when given to young drivers at specific points across the year. But, what he says about F1 testing is wrong, in my opinion. There is time for training in Formula 1, and it’s called Friday Practice.

I have said in the past that I’m not in favour of Di Montezemolo’s suggestions, and this time it’s (mostly) no different. Also, I think it’s disgraceful that he can attack the new teams like he did. Ferrari have never started off as a new team in a developed grid like Lotus, Virgin and HRT have, and these teams have done great work in increasing their pace and improving reliability. Luca should learn this, and actually respect the teams that will be racing him in a few years time.

Ferrari reveal 800th Grand Prix design

Ferrari have revealed a new livery for their cars for this weekends’ Turkish Grand Prix, to celebrate their 800th Grand Prix in Formula 1. A special logo is now on the engine covers of the cars.

While it isn’t as good as it could have been, I think it looks much better than that stupid white box outline they have been forced to use ever since the Marlboro subliminal advertising claims. Have a look at the photos below:

Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix special livery

Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix special livery

Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix special livery

Ferrari's 800th Grand Prix special livery

Ferrari fined, while Petrov, Di Grassi, Chandhok and Glock receive penalties

The FIA has handed out punishments to different drivers and teams, most of which were for gearbox-related incidents.

First of all, both Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were given 5-place penalties, for Virgin failing to notify the FIA of the gearbox ratios they would be using within 2 hours of the end of Friday Practice. This means that Glock and Di Grassi will start 22nd and 23rd.

Next, Karun Chandhok and Vitaly Petrov also received 5-place grid penalties, this time for unscheduled gearbox changes. Vitaly Petrov changed his gearbox after his crash in Saturday morning practice, but it is unknown when Chandhok had his gearbox replaced. Either way, their gearboxes were supposed to last 4 races, so a 5-place grid penalty was inevitable.

Finally, Ferrari were fined $20,000 after qualifying, after Fernando Alonso was released unsafely into the path of Nico Rosberg. Nico was forced to brake sharply to avoid a collision, and nearly his his back left wheel against the pit wall in the process. The FIA concluded that the Ferrari mechanics failed to ensure that the coast was clear before releasing Alonso out of the garage.

You can view the FIA’s report on the two Virgin drivers here.

You can view the FIA’s report on the Alonso-Rosberg incident here.

Ferrari removes barcode from livery

Ferrari have replaced the barcode with a white box outline

Ferrari have announced that they have removed their barcode design from their cars, after complaints that it was subliminal messaging for the cigarette company Marlboro.

The previous design has been replaced by a white box outline. Ferrari explained this decision:

"Together with Philip Morris International we have decided to modify 
the livery of our cars starting with the Barcelona Grand Prix.

This decision was taken in order to remove all speculation 
concerning the so-called 'bar code' which was never intended to be a 
reference to a tobacco brand.

By this we want to put an end to this ridiculous story and 
concentrate on more important things than on such groundless 
allegations."

Because of this, the doctors that caused this row will probably cease their threat of investigation. But, will it really make any difference? This row has obviously brought Marlboro plenty of publicity, even if it was negative, and that completely renders the doctors’ argument pointless. I’d say that this row has given them more attention than if they had questioned Ferrari’s barcode design, and it was still here.

But, it’s gone, so it’s probably all over, even if the Scuderia are now stuck with a ridiculous box on their cars. Do you think Ferrari make the right call?