Red Bull boss Christian Horner has expressed his disappointment at Ferrari’s "manipulation" of the German grand prix.
The Ferrari team appeared to instruct Fernando Alonso to pass long-time race leader and team mate Felipe Massa on lap 49 of the race.
Read more on the controversy at the German grand prix
Horner, whose Red Bull team has also been accused of not treating its drivers fairly this season, said the sport was the big loser and feels Ferrari had no reason to do what it did.
“It's a great shame for Formula 1 that the race was manipulated to give one driver a victory over the other,” Horner told Autosport.
“We came in for a lot of criticism in Istanbul for allowing our drivers to race but I think that it’s the fair and sporting thing to do.
“The only losers today are Formula 1. Ferrari are a big enough team that they shouldn't need to do that and Fernando is a good enough driver not to particularly at this point in the season when there are still hundreds of points available.”
See pics from the German grand prix
McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh hung back from criticising the Italian team publicly, but said he plans to talk with Ferrari privately about his views on the team orders controversy.
“I don't want to get drawn into it,” said Whitmarsh. “I have my own private views on it. They got a 1-2, but perhaps in a different order from that which people may have thought was right. I will give my private views to Ferrari, but I don't want to go on record and express those views.”
The Ferrari team has been fined $100,000 (£65,000) and could face further sanctions from the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council for illegally using team orders at Hockenheim.
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Re: Rivals slam Ferrari tactics
Surely.
The behaviour of the red Alonso for several races isn't sports and can be reprehensible.
No radio, no pit stops, no telemetry... Hurry up!
Re: Rivals slam Ferrari tactics
What's the point of having a driver's championship if the outcome isn't down to the skill of the driver but the team's decision to favour one driver over another? You may as well just have a single driver per team, then the problem would never arise.
They should put the cars out with the same amount of fuel in each car and have a button in the car to signal the team when they want to change tyres. There should be no other communication between the team and the drivers. They should have enough skill to be able to overtake without taking each other off (unless your name is Vettel).
Re: Rivals slam Ferrari tactics
What a bunch of hypocrits. ALL teams have team orders, pre-race or "covertly" during the race such as McLaren's 'save fule' to Button when he was catching Hamilton, or 'maintain the four second margin' between the BS...uh, sorry, RB cars. It's that, or face the most ridiculous of circumstances as we did at the Turkish GP between the Red Bulls. That's why they're not on top in the WCC and WDC.
Take that stupid rule out once and for all. There have always been team orders and will always be, that's why it's called a TEAM.
One thing's for sure, though, Ferrari really needs to work on the wording to not be so blatantly obvious at least while this useless rule stays active. It's simple, guys: Use the McLaren manual.