Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa clinched a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in today’s German Formula One Grand Prix at Hockenheim in a race overshadowed by controversy about their team’s tactics.
Massa was leading, two-thirds through the race, when his race radio -- broadcast on TV -- informed him that “Fernando is faster than you.” Soon after, Alonso had no problem in overtaking the Brazilian. Under the rules of Formula One, “team orders” aren’t supposed to affect the result of a race by letting a favored driver win.
Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was third, with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button fourth and fifth. It was only the second win of the season for two-time world champion Alonso and Ferrari. Hamilton still leads the drivers’ standings, with McLaren remaining atop the constructors’ table.
In the post-race news conference, Massa said he thought he’d deserved to win, but wouldn’t be drawn as to whether he had in effect been told to let Alonso through.
“I don’t think I need to say anything about that, he passed me,” Massa said. “We are working for the team and that is the most important thing.”
Alonso said that “in some parts of the race we were fighting for first and it was a little bit dangerous. I don’t know what happened, but at the exit of turn six (just before Alonso overtook Massa) I saw Felipe a little bit slow.”
While Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali denied implementing team orders when asked about it in a television interview, former F-1 team owner Eddie Jordan, commentating for the British Broadcasting Corp., condemned Ferrari’s maneuver, calling it “unlawful.”
“We were deprived of a possible epic battle” between Massa and Alonso, Jordan said. It was “simply shocking,” he added.
Sixth Pole
At his home grand prix, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was on pole for the sixth time this season, but he was immediately eclipsed by Ferrari’s duo. Massa, third on the grid, surged into an immediate lead with Alonso second and Vettel third.
Massa and Alonso went on to dominate the race, while Vettel fought his way up the field after being set back by tire problems.
His teammate Mark Webber, meanwhile, was struggling with an oil-consumption problem that meant he had to nurse his car along, and he finished in sixth place.
Hamilton, who had a 12-point lead over teammate Button at the top of the drivers’ standings before today’s race, saw his advantage increase to 14.
Hamilton has 157 points, Button 143, Webber and Vettel 136 and Alonso 123. McLaren leads the constructors’ event on 300 points, with Red Bull on 272 and Ferrari on 208.
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