COOPER: Ferrari Was Wrong In Germany

Formula 1

COOPER: Ferrari Was Wrong In Germany

Fernando Alonso's win at Hockenheim was laced in controversy...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted July 26, 2010 Balen (BEL)

Fernando Alonso (Right) celebrates his win in the German Grand Prix as teammate Felipe Massa (Left) looks on. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The bottom line of what transpired at Hockenheim is that while we can all understand the logic of trying to maximize points for the guy most likely to catch the RBR and McLaren drivers in the World Championship, to deprive Felipe Massa of a win that he’d earned by jumping ahead at the start was just crass and unnecessary.

So what that Fernando Alonso had been faster through the weekend? He was behind him at Turn 1 and never managed to reverse that situation. Sure, he couldn’t commit to a kamikaze move to pass his own teammate, but equally, Massa would not defend quite as decisively as he would with a third-party rival.

Sunday was also the first anniversary of Massa’s Hungarian GP accident. A win for him would have been a wonderful, positive story for the sport, and a Ferrari one-two a great boost for the championship.

After a poor season, Massa would now be in a buoyant mood, and that could only be good for the team as well. For the sale of seven lousy points, the team threw all the positive stuff away and is instead under siege with not one but two unhappy drivers, because even the thick-skinned Alonso will be feeling the heat.

The team will be under stress because the World Motor Sport Council has the power to change the result of the German GP. Alonso could yet lose his victory, and if that happens, race engineer Rob Smedley’s on-air apology to his driver will be the damning evidence.

In essence, the stewards of the meeting could not levy a financial penalty greater than $100,000 on the day, and it seems that they preferred not to take the responsibility of a more controversial decision that changed the result in any way. However, in referring the matter to the WMSC, they are in effect indicating that they believe there should be a much greater penalty.

That could involve a bigger fine, a change to the results (even though they were declared official on Sunday night), and/or possibly a form of suspended sentence, such as a race ban for the team should it be found guilty of a similar offense. A WMSC hearing would also send out a signal to all the other teams as to what is and isn’t allowed, which can only be a good thing.

Ferrari’s argument is obviously that it did not implement team orders, and that the team just gave Massa information of which he acted on his own accord. The debate will perhaps come to the fact that what is the difference between a driver being told to cede a place in a specific instance, or being privy to a standard arrangement to the effect that when told the other driver is faster, he is expected to make the decision to move over.

VIDEO: German GP Results Felipe Massa leads the field in Germany. (Image: SPEED)

One Ferrari man told me last night that Felipe understands the rules and if he doesn’t like it he can leave, just as someone else – Rubens Barrichello – did a few years ago. He pointed out that just as Massa had helped Raikkonen in 2007, so Kimi had helped Felipe in 2008.

Both of those incidents, of course, occurred in the last or next-to-last races of the season. When the team order rule was introduced by Max Mosley, it was made clear that it would not apply in that situation, and everyone has always understood that. The whole point was to stop this sort of thing happening in the middle of the year. Massa was (and is) still in the title fight, albeit only mathematically.

In essence, the evidence was in the radio messages that the viewing public at home also heard. Rob Smedley initially told Massa, “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm that you understand that message?”

Everyone in the paddock and watching at home had a pretty good idea of what those words implied, but Ferrari’s argument is that there was nothing sinister behind them.

The big problem is that after the pass was made, Smedley said, “Good lad, well done, sorry.”

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Adam Cooper

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