Yes, I think so. Time and time again it is shown that during the course of a season every point counts. Fernando needed a win to stay in touch. Massa is perhaps not mathematically out, but surely realistically. So yes, I understand that Ferrari is putting their efforts primarily in Alonso for getting the 2010 driver title. A long shot, yes, but it is a shot. I can't not understand why it would become a mockery. I can not understand why 'fans' would expect, let alone demand, that teammates (TEAMmates) would go head to head with eachother. It is odd that one would want to make teammates in something they are not or at least they don't have to be, which is competitors. They have the same employer and at the end of the day the interests of your employer counts. He is picking up the tab after all. But their you have it: rule 39.1 makes competitors out of teammates. A strange, forced rule brought on by a silly incident in which the audience at the Austrian GP of 2002 were pretty naive in their outrage. To say the least. I would say it is a fact. Once the pitstops are done, it is only up to Massa how to execute the order. And since the question whether or not the order can be seen as being in breach of 39.1 is fully answered by the way it is executed, it is all up to the driver who has been given the order. There are many ways. You could miss an apex and run wide, miss a gear, miss a braking point. All that will bring the desired result (teammates swapping positions) without anyone screaming 'mockery'. Yes, people want to be fooled and 39.1 is there yo help. But sadly, most F1 drivers are burdened with another thing: an ego. Surely they will not, in front of millions of viewers, make a mistake. Of course they will make sure everyone sees that theyre being overtaken not because the other one is quicker, but because they are told to move over. And there lies the danger for the teams as long as 39.1 is in effect. Their biggest enemy at this point is their very own number two driver and his ego. Austria 2002 was no different. Really? Shouldn't it be about love for the car? Who cares if you see it on every streetcorner if your driving the car you love and want? That would be, in fact, totally irrelevant. As you know, every employee has to do what he is being told to do in terms of executing his job. How many ways are there to handout a teamorder? Again, the only way to even detect a teamorder, is the way in which it is being executed. When the team isn't in the position to execute the order (by delaying a pitstop or something) how could the team be blamed if the order isn't covered up enough? Ferrari didn't even give an order. They gave information. Yet everybody screams 'teamorder' then blames Ferrari for not doing it clever enough. Thats just weird. He felt sorry for his boy not going to win. Big deal. He just as well could've said sorry if Massa had beached it somewhere. Last time I checked Ferrari gave information to Massa. Massa decided not to put up a fight, which is the sensible thing to do in my view. Ferrari didn't break the rules. You make a simple piece of information into a teamorder, than accuse Ferrari of not covering it up enough. Yes there is. People should get a much needed reality check and stop expecting and demanding that teammates go head to head with eachother. To accomodate those who fail to understand the sport. Everyone who thought Austria 2002 was going to be for Rubens, failed to understand the sport and the team dynamics. Ferrari didn't made a mystery out of their objective, which was clinch the driverstitle as soon as possible. Schumacher was, of course, the driver who needed to do it. Both drivers were in a class of their own back then. They had no outside competition. Schumacher was ordered not to attack, because that would provide a needless risk as well. Sure, it was a boring race, which is often the case when one team dominates. It is up to Ferrari to bring the results back to Maranello. They are not there to, against their own interests, bring drama in an otherwise boring race. If that is what people expect, they should go out and buy theatre tickets. F1 is first and fore most a competition. Competition is per definition boring when one competitor dominates. Should we demand from football teams that they insert some artificial drama in an otherwise 12-0 won match, by making some goals on their own site? No of course not. Than why should we demand that F1 teams sit back and look on how the EGO's driving their cars, take unnecessary risks? Surely, at some time the insanity of this will be realized?
For anyone interested in a new guy's opinion ... Rule 39.1 IS a stupid rule ... because it's illogical. There is no "natural" outcome of any race, there's no "predetermined" result ... otherwise, we wouldn't need A RACE to determine the outcome. So the word "interfere" in the rule, in my view, is synonymous with "impact" or "influence". So if anyone cares to indulge the newbie, might be elaborate on other orders, issued by "the team", that impact or influence the outcome of the race? What if the race starts in dry conditions, but then the rains come. Surely, the team must decide which team member pits first ... there is only one pit lane for each team, after all, much like there will be only one winner of a race ... does that decision, and subsequent "order", not impact the outcome of the race? The way I see it, it's a team sport ... not an individual sport. Demanding "no team orders" is impractical ... and, more significantly, illogical ... in a team sport. So it's not a question of agreeing/disagreeing with a rule ... it's a question of the simple impossibility of following an illogical rule.
Well I'll make it simple why not have 1 driver per team, job done. However until such a time it's better to try and play by the rules eh!.
If only they all did!. Technically speaking, the FIA haven't actually proved that the message issued to Massa in the German GP was a direct team order and not simply information for Massa to digest and form his own opinion on the best course of action to take. The fact that Rob Smedley gave the information in a very robotic way cannot be deemed to be Ferrari's fault, surely?. As I have said before, should the FIA then investigate McLarens instructions to Hamilton in Turkey that Button would not pass him and the subsequent messages to Button that his fuel was critical, despite having three times the amount of fuel on board as Hamilton had, and Hamilton receiving no such low warnings himself?. Should they examine every single transmission made by all the teams where drivers have been caught shortly afterwards and overtaken by their team mates?. Should they be forced to examine carefully, every botched pit stop or mysterious off track excursion that benefits the drivers team mate?. If you want totally honest racing in F1 then this is exactly what the FIA need to do, just don't expect any race results until at least a month after the event!. F1 must be the only sport in the world where honesty doesn't pay!. (Damn!, promised myself that I wasn't going to get back on this merry-go-round again and yet I just couldn't resist it!. Must try harder in future!).
It seems that folks around here just want to piss and moan about Ferrari when all top teams do the same thing. I can't see the FIA doing anything here, it's a non issue to them. I thought this thread was about Lauda, screw him, always there when the press is looking for an anti-Ferrari comment. He enjoyed his #1 status at Ferrari, he can go pound sand for all I care.
As usual, Lauda won't shut up. At least if you have to open your mouth, say something worthwhile/interesting/not be a parrot for the press...
