Ferrari escapes further punishment, team orders under review

[Ed]

The FIA issued the following statement following the World Motor Sport Council extraordinary meeting on the 9th of September:


On 25 July 2010, at the Grand Prix of Germany, the Stewards of the meeting found an infringement by the Scuderia Ferrari to the prohibition of team orders interfering with a race result and then decided to impose a fine of $100,000 and to forward the dossier to the World Motor Sport Council for further consideration.

The Judging Body of the World Motor Sport Council held an extraordinary hearing in Paris on 8 September 2010 to examine this matter.

After an in depth analysis of all reports, statements and documents submitted, the Judging Body has decided to confirm the Stewards’ decision of a $100,000 fine for infringing article 39.1 of the Sporting Regulations and to impose the payment of the costs incurred by the FIA.

The Judging Body has also acknowledged that article 39.1 of the Sporting Regulations should be reviewed and has decided to refer this question to the Formula One Sporting Working Group.

Proceedings

In March 2010 at Bahrain at the initiative of the FIA President, the World Motor Sport Council adopted a new transitional disciplinary procedure, in order in particular to ensure the separation between the prosecuting body and the judging body. At the General Assembly on 5 November 2010, a more global reform of the FIA judicial system will be submitted for approval, including in particular the creation of an International Tribunal which will exercise the disciplinary power in the 1st instance in place of the World Motor Sport Council.

In application of this new procedure, previously applied within the context of the US F1 case, the FIA President exercises the role of prosecuting body. As such, he has the authority to notify any person being prosecuted of the grievances brought against him and to submit the matter to the Judging Body of the World Motor Sport Council, chaired by the Deputy President for Sport, Mr Graham Stoker.

The Deputy President for Sport has the power to proceed with an investigation and, within this context, to designate a reporter from among the members of the World Motor Sport Council.

In the present case, the Deputy President for Sport designated Mr Lars Österlind, a member of the World Motor Sport Council, as reporter. Mr Österlind’s report was forwarded to the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro as the party being prosecuted.

Prior to the hearing, the members of the Judging Body of the World Motor Sport Council received all the documents in the case, including the observations submitted by the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro.

The FIA President did not attend the hearing but was represented by Maître Jean-Pierre Martel from the law firm Orrick Rambaud Martel.

The hearing before the Judging Body of the World Motor Sport Council, assembled on 8 September 2010 in an extraordinary meeting, was chaired by the Deputy President for Sport and allowed the hearing, in person, of Mr Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, assisted by lawyers, Mr Henry Peter and Nigel Tozzi. The World Motor Sport Council had the possibility to join the drivers Mr Fernando Alonso and Mr Felipe Massa via videoconference.

[Ed]

Ferrari then issued a statement that read:

Ferrari has taken note of the decision of the FIA World Council, relating to the outcome of this year’s German Grand Prix and wishes to express its appreciation of the Council’s proposal to review article 39.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, in light of what emerged during today’s discussions.
Now, all the team’s efforts will be focussed on the next event on track, when the Italian Grand Prix takes place at Monza this weekend.

[Thaddeus]

This was an even more pathetic 'judgement' than I'd anticipated. I thought Ferrari would get a puny fine, and maybe lost some Constructors' points or suchlike. Instead, they don't get any penalty at all.

I agree that, pragmatically, the team order was the best thing for the team, regarding points. However, it has made them and F1 look very poor, and denied Massa (and Ferrari) a great story about racing to victory a year after almost dying in a freak accident.

[mlittle]

This was an even more pathetic 'judgement' than I'd anticipated. I thought Ferrari would get a puny fine, and maybe lost some Constructors' points or suchlike. Instead, they don't get any penalty at all.

I agree that, pragmatically, the team order was the best thing for the team, regarding points. However, it has made them and F1 look very poor, and denied Massa (and Ferrari) a great story about racing to victory a year after almost dying in a freak accident.

I agree.......and disagree with you on this one, Thaddeus. The part I agree with you on is the decision; it it doesn't reek of Ferrari-style politics, then we all need nose transplants. This wasn't a good decision by the FIA, punting it off to the WMSC for further review.........

OTOH, I disagree with you on team orders. Quoting something I posted over on Clip The Apex,

Team orders are a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" part of Formula 1. As Steve Matchett pointed out on the Fox broadcast of the German GP, there have always been, in some way, shape or form, team orders(a point David Hobbs agreed with.....) and, even with the Sporting Regs' the way they're written, there are going to always be team orders........the teams are just going to couch them in the language Massa's engineer, Rob Smedley, used when he made that call to Massa about Alonso being faster than he was.

---Now, did Ferrari violate the spirit of the law in terms of team orders? By the way that, (a) the Sporting Regs are written and, (b)by the way Massa moved over to let Alonso by, yes they did.
---Did Ferrari violate the letter of the law? No, for one reason......Ferrari did not overtly order Massa to let Alonso by and unless I'm mistaken, all the Sporting Regs' say is that a team cannot order one driver to stand aside for the other driver. Call it semantics, call it parsing words, but as long as they did not overtly order Massa aside, they didn't violate that particular regulation.

Hence the reason the FIA's decision stinks IMO............legally, they're right to merely fine the team and kick it upstairs to the WMSC. Politically, though, it makes the FIA and Ferrari look bad and its' that perception that F1 fans will remember, not whether they broke the Sporting Regs' or not.......

[Julian Mayo]

Whilst I am not stoopid enuff to wager on anything ridden or driven by humans, a lot of people do. Ferrari ripped off a lot of people, by rigging the event.

[Ed]

The FIA have published the full decision here (in pdf)

[Garry Allen]

Ferrari do not deserve to be running in formula 1 for the rest of this season. They are cheats and liars. They blatantly break the rules and get a piddling fine (compared to the annual team budget). Thet are given no negative reinforcement to stop them breaking the rules.

My question is "How much have Ferrari bribed the officials to get them to say that they believe the complete horse c#@p that they gave information to assist in the constructors championship, when the drivers are 1&2 in the race?" It makes no difference whatsoever. If the governing bodies are in the pockets of Ferrari it is a sad state for international motorsport.

There is no other explanation for the complete COWARDICE displayed by an entitled governing body. There have been so many examples of Ferrari cheating at both driver and team levels that have been swept under the carpet by official governing bodies, for so many years, that the sport is becoming increasingly pathetic.

If they really wanted to get people to come back to the fold pf F1, let the rules be enforced, let Joe Public see that there is a fair playing field for all teams, and that appropriate measures are taken when the rules are broken.

The intent of the 'Team Orders' rule is blatantly clear and a positive for the sport, and I truly do not believe that anyone that heard the message given to Massa truly took it as giving information only, including the guy on the microphone. If he thought that, then why did he appologise for what he had been told to say.

[mlittle]

Ferrari do not deserve to be running in formula 1 for the rest of this season. They are cheats and liars. They blatantly break the rules and get a piddling fine (compared to the annual team budget). Thet are given no negative reinforcement to stop them breaking the rules.

My question is "How much have Ferrari bribed the officials to get them to say that they believe the complete horse c#@p that they gave information to assist in the constructors championship, when the drivers are 1&2 in the race?" It makes no difference whatsoever. If the governing bodies are in the pockets of Ferrari it is a sad state for international motorsport.

There is no other explanation for the complete COWARDICE displayed by an entitled governing body. There have been so many examples of Ferrari cheating at both driver and team levels that have been swept under the carpet by official governing bodies, for so many years, that the sport is becoming increasingly pathetic.

If they really wanted to get people to come back to the fold pf F1, let the rules be enforced, let Joe Public see that there is a fair playing field for all teams, and that appropriate measures are taken when the rules are broken.

The intent of the 'Team Orders' rule is blatantly clear and a positive for the sport, and I truly do not believe that anyone that heard the message given to Massa truly took it as giving information only, including the guy on the microphone. If he thought that, then why did he appologise for what he had been told to say.

Before I say anything,
Welcome to the forum, Garry!

Anyway, the more I look at the WMSC's decision, the more I believe the following...........
---that Ferrari violated the 'spirit' of the Sporting Regs' in regards to "Team Orders"
---that Ferrari, OTOH, did not violate the 'letter' of the Sporting Regs' in regards to "Team Orders"
---that in terms of motorsports and the politics of the sport, this decision STINKS.......
---that in terms of the court of public opinion, this decision really, REALLY STINKS......
---and that the Sporting Regs' need to be re-written to deal with the issue of Team Orders in clear, concise wording(either the FIA should ban them out-right OR they should allow them, one or the other...........