Then, at the last race, the British Grand Prix just two weeks ago, team orders again came into the news as Red Bull management instructed Mark Webber, running third at the time, to “maintain the gap” to teammate Sebastian Vettel as he was clamoring all over him for a late-race overtake.
Now, when Massa was instructed to let his teammate Alonso pass last year, “team orders” were banned by F1’s sporting regulations, put into place after Ferrari made a shambles of team orders in Austria in 2002, having Rubens Barrichello, who had led every practice session, qualified on the pole, and led every race lap, give up his position to Michael Schumacher in the final stretches of the last lap to ensure Schumacher got maximum points in his quest for another World Driving Championship. That was a total mockery of sport, and even Schumacher acknowledged as much as he grabbed Rubens and drug him up to the top step of the podium. While last year’s orders weren’t quite such a slap in the face to fair play - in fact, Alonso just nearly did win the title due to the orders - Formula One nonetheless decided to ease the controversy by allowing team orders again, as its fairly obvious to race observers that it’s a regular occurrence.
Team orders have been around in motorsport since the advent of multi-car teams. You see it in every series and in every class, and there’s not really anything wrong with them when applied with a bit of common sense. For example, in NASCAR, you’ll see a driver give up the lead for a lap to ensure his teammate gets a bonus point for leading a lap; then, the next lap, take the lead over again and get the race a-going. Additionally, a team wants to make sure its often overly zealous and competitive drivers don’t take each other out of the race and give the boys back the garage two wrecked cars to re-build before the next race - see Vettel's run in with Webber in Turkey just last year.
In the big-money, big-pressure world of Formula One, teams and drivers battle for two championships – the constructor’s championship and the driver’s championship. For some teams, like Williams, it’s simple: Drivers drive for the team and the only championship that matters is the constructor’s championship. If you take care of that, you’ll likely take care of the driver’s championship as well. Of course, not all drivers see it so clearly.
The aggravating part for race fans come when team orders are unnecessary, like 2002 in Austria and two weeks ago in England. In 2002, there was little to no chance that Schumacher wasn’t going to win the title, the same with Vettel this year. That horse has left the barn, and the rest of the grid knows its racing for second place.
Likewise, the constructor’s title is not in doubt this year either – c’mon, we know Red Bull is the car both to be beat and ones that can’t be consistently beaten, at least not this year, and certainly not with its already huge points lead. Close racing and overtaking is something that is often very difficult to find in Formula One – please, fellas, please be very thoughtful and careful when taking away our long-awaited head-to-head duels.
So, let the team orders fly. Give one driver preference when new equipment is scarce and when race strategy calls for different calls. Even let one driver pass the other. Just do us three favors: 1) don’t insult our intelligence, 2) do it when only absolutely necessary, and 2) do it for the right reasons.
Remember when Aryton Senna let Gerhard Berger pass on the last lap of the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix to reward Berger with a race victory for being such a great teammate during the course of Senna’s championship season? Well, that’s one of the right reasons.
Give your team orders on Twitter @RayHartjen
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