Ferrari bites back at Lauda's 'pasting' comments

Ferrari has hit back at Niki Lauda's prediction that the famous Italian team will "get a pasting" at the FIA's disciplinary council next month.

In an interview with F1's official website, former champion Lauda - who won two of his three titles with Ferrari - slammed the Maranello based team for allegedly using team orders at Hockenheim recently.

"What they've done is wrong and they got an immediate punishment -- and they will get a pasting from the World (Motor Sport) Council, that is for sure," said the Austrian great.

"And that has nothing to do with Alonso. He's no Schumacher," added Lauda, when asked if Fernando Alonso was taking a tight grip on Ferrari.

In response, a disparaging column posted on the official Ferrari website depicted the 61-year-old as someone who "has never missed out on a chance to dispense opinions left and right".

"This time, good old Niki has missed out on a fine opportunity to keep his mouth shut, given that, when he was a Scuderia driver, the supposed Ferrari driver management policy suited him perfectly," read the Ferrari column.

Also upset about Lauda's recent interview might be the struggling new teams, who are all receiving an extra contribution to their budgets this year from Bernie Ecclestone.

"I am strictly against having them on life support. Either they are able to stay alive on their own or 'bye bye'," said Lauda.