Team orders haunt Austrian Grand Prix

Timothy Collings

A row over team orders and unsporting behaviour has yet again overshadowed the outcome of a Formula One grand prix and left one man grinning and another in tears.

This time, the man who benefited most was not the victor, Briton David Coulthard who claimed a well-judged win for McLaren Mercedes-Benz in the Austrian Grand Prix, but defending world champion Michael Schumacher of Germany.

Schumacher was handed second place, at the end of a race he has never won in his career, when his Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello obeyed orders from sporting director Jean Todt and pulled over on the final corner to let him through.

The outcome was that Schumacher's lead in the drivers' championship was cut by Coulthard to only four points instead of six. Schumacher and Ferrari believe those points could be critical by the end of what promises to be a highly competitive season.

Schumacher, asked if Ferrari's philosophy was unsporting, said: "Imagine (if) at the end of the season I had missed the championship by two points.

"Yes, it is sport to win it like this as well. I think it is a different philosophy that Ferrari has to McLaren.

"And I think you have to accept the different philosophies. You don't have to like it. But that's the way it is.

"All that counts in the end is the championship, to be honest, and as long as we don't work against the rules, I think we're quite fair to do this. And the rules say quite clearly that there is nothing stopping that.

So, for sure, there will be some people disagreeing. There will be other people who agree. That's the way of life."

Schumacher admitted he had been beaten for pace on the track by Barrichello who sat tearfully, only a few metres from the German throughout the post-race news conferences.

TEAM SPIRIT
The Brazilian's emotional state and his decision not to comment won much sympathy but did not change the result of the race.

"I cannot answer," he said. "It is something very much inside. Unfortunately I cannot open my heart right now. I'm sorry."

Given that Barrichello's current contract with Ferrari ends this year, he may not have done himself any favours when it comes to discussion of a renewal.

Certainly Todt and Schumacher were clear on the issue. Both agreed that everyone at Ferrari worked only for the team, just as they always did in the days when the founder, Enzo Ferrari, was alive.

"Every team has its way of running and managing itself and we took the decision based on the situation in the race," said Todt.

"On the final lap we considered the calculations and it made sense to give another two points' advantage to Michael and for him to have six points, which may be important at the end of the season. Lots of teams have done this.

"It was not an easy decision to take to ask a driver to give up his position but it was a team decision. We took everything into consideration before making this decision."

Todt said the team had to repeat the request to Barrichello several times on the final lap before he accepted it.

"He was not happy," Todt said. "He would have preferred another situation but he is working for the good of Ferrari."

Asked if he felt Ferrari now owed Barrichello a favour in return, Todt said: "I repeat we work for the good of the team. Ferrari doesn't owe anyone anything...Rubens is a professional. I never doubted he would accept the decision."

TACTICAL DECISIONS
Schumacher said: "Rubens has been very generous. There are other drivers who wouldn't have done this. We both work for Ferrari. I had to do the same thing for Eddie (Irvine). We have to work for the team and not for ourselves."

Similar tactical decisions have been taken many times in the past, most controversially in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix in 1998 when a pre-race pact meant that Coulthard pulled over and allowed his McLaren team mate Mika Hakkinen to win.

The move caused a furore in a country where widespread betting on the race had taken place and where sport is always regarded as a pure contest between individuals, or teams, without any manipulation.

Ferrari, in 1999, did the same at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Kuala Lumpur where Schumacher, returning from a long lay-off after he had broken a leg, moved over to allow Briton Irvine to win and keep alive his hopes of the drivers' title that year.

Jaguar's Niki Lauda defended Ferrari's action at Spielberg. "Schumacher is Ferrari's number one and today he has a greater chance to win the world championship once more. If I had been in Todt's position I would have done the same thing," he said.

BMW Motorsport director Gerhard Berger agreed, saying Barrichello was "right to make a sacrifice in the name of the team".

But Alain Prost, Peugeot team director said Schumacher should not have taken advantage of the situation.

"It is not the first time that we have seen team play but considering how the race went, if I had been Schumacher I would have refused to overtake Barrichello," said Prost.

McLaren technical director Adrian Newey was also unhappy with the way the race finished.

"What we saw at the finishing line is something that offends the ethics of sport," Newey said.