Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Ferrari could be banned from Formula 1 after Felipe Massa appeared to follow team orders in allowing team-mate Fernando Alonso to pass him and claim victory in Sunday's German Grand Prix. The team, which has already been fined $100,000, has been summoned to a World Motorsport Council hearing, likely to be held in August.


Lets hope so, just got this of the BBC sports page!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers
Colin

Bonehead

Highly doubtful they'd kick out their biggest cash-cow

davyboy

Would never happen.

Gregsti01

iTrader: (1)

I exspect the lttle greasy one will have to be consulted first,how blatant do the orders have to be,think of the betting that has taken a dip,bit like throwing a fight.Sad they have to spoil F1 but there again big money CORUPTION,ITALY,comes to mind

nik52wrx

With Jean Todt heading the FIA i doubt it.

jsh1

iTrader: (1)

I can't see a ban being effected.

I think they could/should be excluded from this years championship in the same way that McLaren were recently.

I am an eternal optimist and I truly hope that they are punished as a team, but the cynical side of me doesn't think that Jean Todt would deal out any punishment at all.

I always thought that his appointment was a conflict of interests.

It should have been Ari Vatenen but Moseley put a stop to that. Talk about a corrupt organisation.

Jason

Leslie

Jean Todt heads the FIA, is the World Sports Council the same thing, and could he have that much influence?

I think that Ferrari should be severely punished for their actions, I think a ban is too far and would be bad for F1 too. At the very least they should lose all the points for the German race, drivers and the team's points. That would concentrate the minds of everyone in the sport.

You can say it is a bad rule until you are blue in the face, but it is there nevertheless and the teams agreed to it in the first place anyway.

Les

Ant

I hope they do ban them but very unlikely !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turbo2

Going off at a bit of a tangent here, but what do you guys make of the 3 new teams in F1?

Personally I think that Hispania, Virgin and Lotus are spoiling the racing for everyone else. At best, those guys are typically 5 seconds per lap slower than the front-runners and are being lapped left, right (and in Kovalainen's case ) centre! It seems that this will get worse next year with the promise of yet another new team on the block.

Are we expecting too much of them to be anything like competitive with their limited resources? If so why let them in? Is it just a stop-gap until some of the big car manufacturers start showing an interest again? I was all for giving them a chance early on, but am now doubting the wisdom of the whole charade.

Ant

It's their first season so you can't expect them to perform well, they're still learning.

Maybe in a few seasons time they could be decent competition

Markus

Zero possibility of them being kicked out of F1. They could be severely penalized, for example, stripped of all constructor points for this season, which is meant to be a big thing to the teams, not so much to the fans, well not this one at least.

scooby L

I think anything over and above stripping the points gained by both team and drivers in the German GP would be excessive.

A clear message to the teams that while the rule is still in place, any blatant disregard of it will result in zero points for that weekend... banning them or clearing points from other GP's is hardly fair..and we all know Ferrari are not the 1st to do this kind of thing.

jsh1

iTrader: (1)

What does a team need to do then to justify the points being taken away from them?

Given that it is clearly in the rules, given that Ferrari have been found guilty of breaching the sporting code which states that "any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition, or to the interests of motorsport generally" can be punished.

How would punishing this not be fair?

Whether you believe this to be excessive or not, a clear message does need to be sent out. It is the only way to ensure that the teams understand the severity of rule breaking.

As far as I am concerned, Ferrari have got away very lightly so far. They should definitely be excluded from the constructors championship for this year and the drivers points for Germany be deducted.

Jason

jsh1

iTrader: (1)

Someone also made another good point on another post, how would you feel if you had placed a bet on Massa to win the Grand Prix?

Exactly the same as match fixing?

Jason

urban

iTrader: (1)

Yes - but what about if you placed a bet on Button to win a GP and then the team tell both drivers to hold positions

The whole things a farce and you cannot send a clear message out with regards to team orders - because they cannot be proven
Ferrari just made a ***** of how they did it

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

and on that evidence alone they should be stripped of their win, also the radio comunication from the pit wall by Rob Smedley says it all IMHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Cheers
Colin

Leslie

Doesn't really matter what Ecclestone thinks about the rules, the fact is they broke an existing rule and they cannot justify it.

They deserve to be hammered for it.

Les

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

The press conferences for Hungary could be interesting..

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlin...0/7/11084.html

scooby L

I wasn't saying they should not be punished...I really think they should be

But I was saying the punishment should match the crime... and by effectively making the weekend a null points event for Ferrari (and their drivers) would be more than enough...this is what they race for..points....the same as Ferrari being banned from the German GP this year..that would hit them hard... but by extending that punishment beyond that weekend would be excessive imho... but it's just my opinion obviously

Leslie

I agree with that.

Les

SimonD

As I mentioned in the Motorsport section the rule is daft.
Yes, Ferrari should probably be punished for blatantly breaking the rule then lying about it afterwards .....BUT.... the rule should be removed. It is impossible to police and has been broken by other teams on many occasions this year and last.

cster

There are two problems with this rule.
1- It is stupid
2- It is unenforceable
The only way I can see around this would be to limit teams to one car.
The general public are too simple to appreciate what is basically a team sport, where the only Championship that matters is for the teams (ie Constructors). They therefore have to anthropomorphise the whole thing by having a Drivers Championship with the good guy and the bad guy thing etc. where the cars are just incidental.
Mind you - I would love to see Bernie trying to flog F1 on that basis.

Leslie

yes it is an unenforceable rule and was probably invented to keep the customers quiet in the first place.

The point is however that Ferrari broke it blatantly and cynically for all to see.

Les

Marquis of Carrabas

Fookin 'ell calm down, seems this bit of news has given you a semi Team orders have always been there and always will. It happens in ALL teams even your beloved Button and Hamilton have been guilty of this. Now go and have a w@nk or something to get rid of all this excitement.

Ant

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Rubens puts the boot in

http://www.formula1.com/news/intervi...0/7/11089.html

fast bloke

There isn't a snowballs chance in hell that Button would ever pass Hamilton in a straight race with an equal car. The only reason that he is even close in the championship is down to a couple of risky tyre calls and a wheel failure for Hamilton. So far this year, Alonso has had all the bad luck and bad pit calls, followed closely by Hamilton having nearly as much bad luck and one or two bad pit calls. Monaco aside, Button has been the luckiest man on the track.However, around a year ago, (just after Massa's accident) I put a tenner on him to win a GP within a year. I got 26/1. I now feel that Ferrari have stolen my £260.00 quid, so I sent them a letter on Monday telling them that if they didn't pay what they had stolen from me I would feel obliged to take them to small claims. If they don't pay up by Monday, I will file with small claims. Technically, if they want to fight it, they will need to get Alonso, Massa and Domenicali down to the courthouse in Newtownards. I can't see that happening, but if I win and they don't pay, next step is a bankruptcy petition If I win and they do pay, that can only be taken as an admission of guilt. If they show up to contest it, I will so astounded to meet Massa and Alonso that I will probably settle for group piccie and an autograph. (Just Massa's - Alonso is a petulant whining child..... I wouldn't p1ss on him if he was on fire)

Fabioso

Are you from Liverpool ?

Xx-IAN-xX

Not very good for the betting man, when races are being fixed by these cheating barstewards.