User:Wiki id2/2010 Team Orders

At the 2010 German Grand Prix team orders were used by Ferrari on 25th July 2010 during the 2010 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Ferrari controversially had their two drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso swap places.

The return of team orders

Towards the end of the 2010 German Grand Prix the incident occurred when Felipe Massa was leading the race and then received a message from his race engineer Rob Smedley stating that "Fernando (Alonso) is faster than you. Can you confirm that you understood that message?" Shortly later at the exit of a hairpin Massa slowed down and gave the lead to Alonso. Just after the overtake was made, Smedley came onto the team radio and said "Good boy, sorry" which is either referenced to the use of a team order or as Smedley said it in a later interview that he felt sorry for Massa that he had been overtaken.

Post-race reaction

The reaction by Felipe Massa wasn't a happy one as he looked unhappy on the podium. Didn't share any champagne with Alonso while sharing it between himself and third-placed Sebastian Vettel. During the post-race interview Massa gave mixed reacations to what happened and the answers were unclear and difficult for analysts to interpret.

Other reactions saw Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner state "That was the most blatant team order ever"

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali defended the incident while talking to the BBC with former team-owner Eddie Jordan who stated that it was an obvious team order. Domenicali stated that "Massa wasn't going quick and Alonso overtook him" and Jordan countered this statement by saying "That doesn't mean Alonso can't overtake Massa Former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher stated that "Despite Felipe [Massa] being a good friend of mine when you look at the championship Massa is way behind Alonso and Ferrari felt Alonso needed to win the championship" Other people disagreed with statements saying nine races were left and Massa could still overturn the difference between the two by out-racing Alonso and not relying on Alonso having mechanical failures or other related mishaps.

Reaction of the stewards

The stewards had different opinions on the result than Ferrari and gave Ferrari a $100,000 fine. The stewards referred Ferrari to the World Motorsport Council who may take further action. The result stood, however the WMC has the right to overturn the result. The FiA decided the Ferrari would be summoned to the World Motorsport Council on 8th September 2010