From GMM
F1's harsh spotlight of the international media is shining on Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, but also the regulation prohibiting team orders. In a frosty post-race press conference at Hockenheim, some reporters warned Spaniard Alonso he now risks winning a "dirty" championship, comparing his win at the hands of an illegal team order to his victory at Singapore in 2008. "That's your opinion," the Ferrari driver told them. Team orders, of course - dating back to the gentleman racer's days when number two drivers would pull into the pits to hand over their cars - are nothing new. "This was just handled very badly," said Lotus' Mike Gascoyne. Triple world champion Niki Lauda scolded Alonso for blatantly denying he had won the race thanks to a team order. The Independent newspaper said "nobody was fooled" by Alonso's argument that he wasn't aware of the fix. "I've never heard a driver talk such bullshit. He has no character," said Austrian great Lauda. Dr Helmut Marko, under fire for some recent decisions at Red Bull, revelled in the change of fortune. "It is unbelievable how awkwardly they demonstrated who is their number one. The FIA must react with a drastic punishment," he is quoted by Blick. Rubens Barrichello, whose move for Michael Schumacher in 2002 motivated the team order ban, said: "I will speak to Felipe myself. Nothing has changed at Ferrari. I think you can read my opinion better from my face," he stormily told Brazilian radio Jovem Pan. Another side of the story is what Renault's customer engine boss Fabric Lom described on Europe 1 radio as the "hypocrisy" of the current regulations. Mercedes' Norbert Haug does not quite agree: "We need to think of the spectators. They want to see fights on the track, not these actions. The different teams have different attitudes about team orders." To the Spanish press, Fernando Alonso argued: "The ones who pay us are the team, not the newspapers or anyone else, and now Ferrari is taking 43 points back to Italy. And that is what we have to do -- what is best for the team. On Friday I was faster, I was second in qualifying and faster than Felipe in the race. I don't think the slower driver won this race." La Libre wondered how the FIA is going to react at the World Motor Sport Council: "Would Jean Todt dare punish his old team for a practice he applied himself? We honestly doubt it."
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