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Ferrari and Alonso Look Like the Clowns of F1 with Result Fixing Scandal

Daniel GoochJul 26, 2010

Ferrari face getting suspended from Formula One after fixing yesturday's German Grand Prix result.

Motorsports' most famous team turned the sport of F1 into a circus, illegally telling Massa to let teammate Alonso pass.  

Former F1 team chief Eddie Jordan said, "It was unlawful and it was theft. They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers.

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"Ferrari should be ashamed. This was a team order. For me it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded. There is no upside to this."

The Italian team were fined just £65,000 (roughly what Alonso earns in a day on his £25 million-a-year salary) by race stewards, for using team orders, banned since 2002.

That's not the end of it though.

Ferrari have been hit with an even more serious charge of bringing the sport into disrepute. They have been ordered to appear in front of the World Motor Sport Council.

The WMSC has the power to kick a team out of the sport, the Championship, or change a result of a race.

F1 banned team orders eight years ago after an incident with Ferrari again where they told Rubens Barrichello to move over for Michael Schumacher in Austria.

Article 39.1 of F1 Sporting Regulations says, "Team orders which interfere with the race result are prohibited."

Many people in the sport are outraged with what happened including Former racer Anthony Davidson who said, "That was as blatant as it comes. We heard the message, the secret code. It's as clear as day."


What happened?

Massa moved from third to first on the grid at the first corner, as Vettel have an awful start.

The Red Bull driver tried to block the cars behind him, but lost out to both Ferraris.

With around 20 laps to go, Alonso was quicker than his Brazilian teammate, but couldn't get past him. He then came on the radio blasting, "This is ridiculous."

Massa then got a coded message on lap 47.

Ferrari race engineer Rob Smedley told Massa, "OK, so, Fernando is faster than you."

A lap later on lap 48, Smedley repeats the same message and then added, "Can you confirm you understood?"

Then, on lap 49, Massa showed he understood as he slowed down and pulled to the left, allowing Alonso to cruise into the lead.

Alonso finished first and Massa second. It was clear something was up on the podium. Alonso could have been happier being on top of the podium, but Massa looked gutted that he could have been there instead. 


Alonso's previous charges

Alonso is not new to scandal in Formula One. Throughout the last few years he has been in the moments that rocked the sport.

In Singapore in 2008, Alonso was well back in the field. He needed a safety car to bunch the cars back up together. Renault ordered teammate Nelson Piquet to crash. Alonso came from 15th to finish first.

The Renault team were handed a disqualification from F1, which was suspended for two years pending any further rule infringements. The two main men in this scandal where also punished. Briatore was banned from all FIA-sanctioned events for life, while Symonds was banned for five years.

In another moment that shocked the sport, Alonso threatened to dish the dirt on McLaren over the Ferrari-gate spy row in 2007 unless he was made their No 1 over rookie Lewis Hamilton.

These two didn't have the best friendship.

In the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying rounds, Alonso controversially and deliberately delayed his pit stop exit, which prohibited Lewis Hamilton to complete his last qualification lap.

This was the moment of Alonso's implosion at McLaren, and when millions of F1 fans turned their back on the Spaniard.

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