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Team Orders: Should They Be Legal?
The latest segment in a string of controversies during the 2010 Formula One season, Ferrari’s use of “team orders” during the German Grand Prix has, as in the past, once-again sparked uproar within the Formula One community.
The decision to demand race-leader Felipe Massa gift first place to teammate Alonso has left an overwhelming number of the sport’s fans with a sense of disappointment. Ranging from online forums, to Formula One officials, to current and ex-racing drivers, the actions of the Italian team have resulted in a number of different – and occasionally odd – opinions on the incident.
Historically, “team orders” have been accepted – and occasionally expected – in Formula One. Since its inception, Formula One results have been manipulated by team decisions. The late, great, Juan Manuel Fangio was able to record two of his 24 wins by taking control of his teammate’s vehicle following the retirement of his own. Along with Fangio, World Champions Ascari and Farina also owe an amount of their success to such “team orders”.
The hoo-rah surrounding recent controversies, says one opinion, “is because of the increased support for individual drivers, rather than the historical preference of team.” Whilst unpopular in recent history, the media’s disgust following the 2002 Austrian and, later, the 2002 United States Grand Prix’s lead to widespread condemnation of the so-called “race fixing”. The now-infamous call between current FIA president Jean Todt and Rubens Barrichello, “Rubens, this is [the] last lap. Let Michael Pass. Let Michael pass for the championship, please.” still, six seasons later, sits heavy in the hearts of many Formula One fans.
Following comments by the race winner, Fernando Alonso, that “Winning is a great feeling and that was the case in Hockenheim”, numerous Formula One spokespersons came out in disagreement of the Ferrari Driver’s comments. Lotus Chief, Mike Gascoyne, made numerous comments against Ferrari’s actions on Sunday. “It is clear the fans feel cheated”, he is reported to have announced. Later, when asked his view on the incident, the Brit simply replied "[it] was just ridiculous."
In a separate interview, former Formula One World Champion Niki Lauder took the argument to a much-more personal level. Speaking of Fernando Alonso, the Austrian is reported to have told the Daily Mail "I've never heard a driver talk such bull****. He [Alonso] has no character.
Whilst media outrage towards the incident was notable - are such “team orders” such a negative within the sport? Confirmed by Red Bull Racing head Christian Horner, “should one driver be out of the running for the title, priority towards the other would be enforced during the race weekend”. Understandably, there are many who agree with such logic towards the championship. The fault of such a theory is that should both drivers be competitive, allowing teammates to race each other can hinder the team’s progress (see Mclaren, 2007).
Comments that teams should be free to regulate (or engineer) results have also been aired - if not somewhat less-popularly. Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has been quoted, on the topic of team orders, as saying “As far as I'm concerned a team is a team. They should run it whichever way they want to run it.” Similarly, seven-time World Drivers Champion Michael Schumacher, and former Team Order-beneficiary, also confirmed “in principle I fully accept.
A divided topic certainly, team orders have and will no-doubt exist for the duration that mankind continues to race motor vehicles. Regulation 39.1 (“Teams may not instruct drivers to allow another to pass”) of the FIA rulebook is far too vague to be seriously feared by teams. Constructors are able to easily encode messages, be undetected and go unpunished. They have been ever since the rule was created. BMW’s Robert Kubica’s pass on teammate Heidfeld at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton’s suggestibly-ordered pass on teammate Kovalainen at the 2008 German Grand Prix, Red Bull’s alerting Sebastian Vettel that “Mark is faster than you” in the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix – simply meaning “Do not pass” - and Ferrari’s decision to demand Felipe Massa allow Alonso pass are all prime examples of team orders in modern-day Formula One which are too vague to be properly enforced. Notorious Schumacher-era Ferrari mastermind, Ross Brawn, has since given his opinion on the subject of team orders. “Our drivers are asked to avoid clashing against each other and if one has the chance to take the title while the other one doesn't, we want both of them to act in the interest of the team without throwing away that opportunity.”
One must ask: At what point is it reasonable to begin engineering results between team mates?
TH
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What constitutes a team order? Telling team-mates not to crash into the first corner - technically that is a team order, no?
Although I believe the events of Germany last weekend to have been damaging to the sport, and I'm against teams manipulating the results, I also believe it is something which is too hard to police.
Teams can use code words (as they already do) to order team-mates to do things and therefore the FIA will find it difficult to accuse teams of breaking the rules.
It might just be easier to allow team orders, as they already happen - making it legal would just make what already takes place more open.