Former, Ferrari driver and world champion, Niki Lauda has again blasted Ferrari for using team orders.
He is right, in that, technically Ferrari has broken the rules.
Speaking to formula1.com, the former champ said, "What they did at Hockenheim was against all rules. Either the rules are changed or everybody observes them.
However, he missed a thing or two when he gave example of Red Bull being fair in letting their drivers race each other, and stated Ferrari's actions as political.
"If you approach it politically then you are in the Ferrari mould. Or you try to give both your drivers equal opportunities and the fans an exciting sport, as Red Bull are doing in letting their drivers compete with each other," he said.
After the Turkey incident, Red Bull had made a statement to it's fans that it supports both drivers equally, but just two races later at the British GP, the team removed the new front wing of Webber and handed it over to the German, in a brazen act of favoritism.
These two incidents, combined by Webber's constant comments to the media, brought lot of criticism to the team from fans all over, and along with the fact that Webber was leading Vettel, forced Red Bull to provide equal machinery and support to both drivers.
Infact, Red Bull are more guilty in this regard, as they supported a driver who was behind his team-mate on points, while in contrast, Fernando Alonso was clearly ahead of Massa, out-performed the Brazilian so far in qualifying and race trim, and much closer to challenging the title than Massa, hence more logical for the team to support him (though they handled it very immaturely).
Hence, Lauda's slamming of Ferrari while at the same time supporting Red Bull's act is far from right.
It is a suprise that Lauda opted to choose the example of Red Bull, and not Mclaren, who have so far played it very well, in managing the two drivers. Though the incident of Jenson Button being told to back off after overtaking Lewis Hamilton at Turkey did raise some eyebrows of team orders being played (in a coded langauge - again, fuel consumption).
However, it can also be due to the fact that a better understanding among the team and drivers are at place in Mclaren.
Ferrari might be in for more penalties or fine, at the WMSC meeting next month, but team orders are a norm, and one way or the other we fans have to come to terms with it, whether we like it or not.
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