Ferrari Fined And Facing Further Punishment
F1 team Ferrari was fined £65,000 and faces further punishment from the FIA after ordering Felipe Massa to let his teammate Fernando Alonso win the German Formula One Grand Prix. ??
The controversial order has been referred to the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council under Article 151c of its Sporting Code, which means that the FIA can now dish out any punishment it deems fit.??
The Hockenheim stewards decided Ferrari, who finished one-two, had told Brazilian Felipe Massa to let Spanish team mate Alonso win the race, a breach of the regulations barring so-called ‘team orders’ and they also ruled the team had brought the sport into disrepute.??
Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley told Massa: ‘Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?’
In the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello was ordered to let Ferrari team mate Michael Schumacher win – an incident that led to the rules being changed.
