Ecclestone upset over Ferrari team orders

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that the way Ferrari called team orders into play at the Austrian Grand Prix had upset him and the team would be ill advised to repeat such actions. Ferrari were booed as Rubens Barrichello, who had led the race from ...

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted that the way Ferrari called team orders into play at the Austrian Grand Prix had upset him and the team would be ill advised to repeat such actions. Ferrari were booed as Rubens Barrichello, who had led the race from start to finish, was ordered to move over to let Michael Schumacher take the win in the last metres of the race.

The podium: Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

Photo by Ferrari Media Center.

"Ferrari would be ill advised to do such a thing in the future," Ecclestone said in the British press. "The only time I would condone it would be if the world championship hung on it. But Michael is 27 points clear. It was the way they did it that upset me."

Ferrari bosses said after the race that they didn't want to disguise what they were doing by pretending Barrichello had perhaps had a poor pit stop, or any other scenario that could have covered up the situation. Ecclestone disagrees, believing such blatant team orders were insulting.

"They could have performed it more elegantly or disguised it, but the way they carried it out insulted people," he remarked. "I am not surprised by the reaction. What happened wasn't good for Formula One but I don't see why the sport should be punished by an incident from one team. If they were to repeat it, that would not go down well with the fans; nor me. So many people want to see someone beat Schumacher but in Austria they were cheated out of that."