I have been a Ferrari fan for as long as I have watched F1. But I cannot condone the way Ferrari shamelessly asked Massa to give up his lead and let his team mate win. It was so blunt and straightforward message that even a fool would understand it.
Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?
They did not even try to hide their intention. And since the transmission radio is now open to public, everyone heard it. And our very professional Massa slowed down his car and let Alonso pass.
Good lad. Just stick with it now. Sorry.
Was how the Ferrari pit crew appreciated this cowardly act.
A lot of things happen behind the curtains in F1. Although team orders have been banned after the Michael Schumacher [Ferrari, Australian GP], teams do send out coded messages which reveal such intentions. However, these are usually done towards the end of the season, when only one of the drivers have any chance of winning the championship. Such a decision is understandable. But to enforce such ordering at just the mid season is just wrong.
But I refuse to point the blame at only Ferrari. Everyone, including Alonso and Massa, were guilty of showing us a manufactured race. Just a few laps ago Alonso had tried a passing move on Massa. However, a couple of corners and Massa was able to regain his lead. Alonso’s reaction to this on his radio was
This is ridiculous!
Clearly, Ferrari must have set the driver orders even before the race started, and when Massa overtook Alonso, whereby defying the team order, Alonso was irritated. And if we couple this incident with Luca Montezemolo’s statement just a few days ago saying Ferrari were still aiming to win the championships leaves no doubt that Massa had been made the scapegoat. This does not augur well for a F1 fan.
Alonso might have been quicker than Massa, but that does not mean he has the right to be ahead of him. The highest paid driver should have fought for the position, and given a faster car, if he really had superior skills he could have forced Massa into an error and taken the lead.
I blame Massa for not having the balls to stand up to the order. He has been with Ferrari for so many years, and yet gets treated like a secondary driver. I am no Massa fan. His response to the media saying he is a professional just doing his job, cuts out a sorry figure of a guy who just the last year was made a Ferrari hero. He should have spoken out like Webber did in the last race when the team favored Vettel.
Ferrari is set for a hearing with the WMSC. Whatever the ruling of the committee is I hold Ferrari guilty of fixing a brilliant race. Massa had started the race well, and he did deserve to win the race.
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