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Newcomers to this blog might not know that when I started it earlier this year I promised to delve into my old PCs and find interesting stories that, where possible, had some relevance to today. Yesterday’s race in Hockenheim created such a feeling of déjà vu that I just had to dig out something on Austria 2002, so here is what Ross Brawn had to say after that race just as the scale of the negative reaction was just sinking in.  I can remember a few of us sitting with Ross, and when somebody asked him what the forecast had been, I chipped in with ‘storm clouds gathering!’ I guess you had to be there…

Anyway, his comments make for fascinating reading today, and the parallels with the line that Stefano Domenicali – who was Ferrari team manager in 2002 – took yesterday are remarkable. Bear in mind however that at the time, team orders had not been banned, so Ross was completely open about what had transpired. Intriguingly I seem to recall that some of the toughest questions here were asked by the same guy who gave Fernando a hard time in Hockenheim…

Ross Brawn Q&A: A1-Ring, May 12th, 2002

Q: You said at the launch in Maranello that is Rubens was in the lead you would not ask Michael to go past him. What’s changed your mind in the six races since the launch?

“The situation today was that Michael had 44 points and Rubens had six. If they were both fighting for the championship on an equal points basis we wouldn’t have made the decision we made today. And Rubens understands that. I have no problem with the decision we made today, and nothing’s changed it.”

Q: One of your fellow technical directors described it as cynical, possibly bordering on fraudulent…

“I don’t really want to comment on other people’s opinion. We controlled the race today. We told the drivers we didn’t want them racing, we told the drivers they had to cut the engine revs, we told the drivers they had to look after the brakes, we told the drivers not to take any risks with backmarkers. That’s the nature of F1, that’s the nature of the business we’re in. When you make that decision then you going to make the decision to control the race thereafter. You can’t tell your drivers not to race, and then not be prepared to make the decisions that come after that. Michael may come back and say why wasn’t I allowed to race? We don’t want to damage the equipment, we want to give ourselves the best chance of winning the drivers’ championship. I understand it’s something which is going to raise a lot of opinion, but we have to do what we feel is right.”

Q: Do you think that the sport has been damaged?

“There’s obviously been a lot of reaction. We all have to make decisions, we all have to make decisions on what’s best for Ferrari. I can’t really answer that question really. If we are able to reach a situation where mathematically we’ve won the championship, then it will be interesting to see. But we had that for five races last year and I don’t think it made any difference.”

Q: Has Michael actually communicated to you that he thinks it’s wrong?

“No, Michael doesn’t think it’s wrong. Michael likes Rubens a lot, and he doesn’t like Rubens to have a lost a race and for him to have gained one, and it’s natural for him to feel that way. But he also understands why we do it, because he was there through those years when we lost the championship at the last race. Michael didn’t ask for it, Michael didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it’s what we feel is correct to maximise our chances for the drivers’ and the constructors.”

Q: What’s upset a lot of people is the feeling that you are so far ahead this year…

“I can understand that, but people are making judgements about the championship before it’s won, and we’re not making those judgements. Michael broke his leg in ’98 [actually 1999]. Anything can happen in a championship, so we just don’t take the slightest chance. We don’t get conceited enough to say we’ve got such an advantage we don’t need to follow our policy today. It’s really as simple as that.”

Q: When Michael broke his leg and Eddie lost the championship at the last race, Eddie had already given away points early in the season…

“That’s true, and obviously if we’d known Michael was going to break his leg, we wouldn’t have done that. But I don’t think any of us knew that! The drivers have a fair chance until the points where one clear has a much stronger chance of winning the championship. They both get exactly the same equipment, they both get good support from all the team, and when one starts to assert an advantage, then we give our support to that driver. Too many championships have been lost in the past when teams haven’t given that support to their driver. We don’t operate like that.”

Q: Does it go against the grain for you as a racer?

“Those decisions are very difficult. It’s difficult for all of us. As I say we sat there in Suzuka [‘98-‘99], we sat there in Jerez [‘97], and wondered what decisions we could have made during the year that could have avoided the situation we had then. It’s both sides.”

Q: At what point was the decision actually taken and conveyed to the drivers?

“The decision was there all weekend. Rubens knows the situation. Rubens has just signed a new contract, and he was very aware of the situation. If Rubens starts 2003 and is 44 points against six after five races, he will get to take race wins in the same fashion. So Rubens knows the circumstances. Even before the weekend it was a taken.”

Q: Did you actually tell him?

“I speak to the race drivers during the race, so I spoke to Rubens and explained the situation. He was very professional about it.”

Q: At what point did you tell him?

“It was after the second pit stops. Once the second pit stops had been finished, and we saw the way the race was, I spoke to him and I explained what we wanted to do. It would have been very to have orchestrated some came in the pit stops, and make it look different, but we didn’t want to operate like that.”

Q: When was Michael made aware of it?

“After I spoke to Rubens and we discussed it then I informed Michael what the situation was. But I’d already told both drivers to back off and take it easy. Once we’d got through the second pit stops we knew what the situation was. It was just a question of looking after the equipment.”

Q: Was there a reluctance from Michael when the order came through?

“We didn’t get into detail, but I’m sure he doesn’t feel entirely comfortable about it. It’s natural. But Michael doesn’t run the team, and it’s not his decision.”

Q: Will there be the same decision if there was a similar situation in Monaco?

“Of course, yes. Until mathematically the championship is sorted either way, that decision could be repeated.”

Q: Why do you run two drivers?

“To win the constructors’ championship.”

Q: But Ferrari’s preference is the drivers?

“We don’t have a preference. Today’s decision kept the constructors’ championship exactly the same, and strengthened our position in the drivers. It wasn’t as though we gave away points in one championship against the other. It didn’t make any difference in the constructors’ position, and strengthened our drivers position. It seemed highly logical.”

Q: Can you see how this damages the legend of Michael Schumacher?

“Not really, no. Michael had nothing to do with it.”

Q: But when everybody writes the history of Michael Schumacher’s fifth championship, it won’t be that he’s the best driver, there will always be that paragraph the he was given that race in Austria…

“That’s the history of F1. That’s happened many times. I don’t think that’s held against the drivers. We all remember Ronnie Peterson and Mario Andretti [in 1978]. That’s the earliest one I remember. It goes back years, and that’s the nature of motor racing. It doesn’t get held against the driver.”

Q: You’re not expecting any ramifications from this?

“I don’t see why. The FIA made their position clear two years ago, and they see F1 as a team sport.”

Q: What about ramifications from the President of Ferrari?

“Nobody appreciates the reaction, but he understands that he’s part of the decision making process. Whilst he won’t appreciate the reaction, he also wouldn’t appreciate the reaction if we lost the championship at the end of the year.”

Q: Until the championship is won, Michael will be allowed to win every race?

“If the situation is there, yes. It’s no different to today. If that situation exists we will make that same decision…”

Jaime Alguersuari managed to lose his wing...

...on the back of team mate Sebastien Buemi

I watched the opening stages of the German GP from near the pit entry and it was like the M25 in rush hour at the end of the first lap as both Toro Rossos and both Force Indias came rushing in.

Incredibly the team mates had in each case contrived to hit each other, and not surprisingly, they had different views of what had happened. However the damage to the STRs gave a pretty clear indication of just who had hit who…

What was that about team orders?

The Hockenheim team orders saga was far from over on Sunday, since the World Motor Sport Council has the power to change the result of the German GP.

Thus Fernando Alonso could yet lose his victory, and if that happens, Rob Smedley’s on-air apology to his driver will be the damning evidence.

In essence the stewards of the meeting could not levy a financial penalty greater than $100,000 on the day, and they preferred not to take the responsibility of a more controversial decision that changed the result in any way. However, in referring the matter to the WMSC they are in effect indicating that they believe there should be a much greater penalty.

That could involve a bigger fine, a change to the results (even though they were declared official on Sunday night), and/or possibly a form of suspended sentence, such a race ban for the team should it be found guilty of a similar offence. An WMSC hearing would also send out a signal to all the other teams.

Ferrari’s argument is obviously that it did not implement team orders, and that the team just gave Felipe Massa information of which he acted of his own accord. The debate will perhaps come to the fact that what is the difference between a driver being told to cede a place in a specific instance, or being party to a standard arrangement to the effect that when told the other driver is faster, he is expected to make the decision to move over.

One Ferrari man told me last night that Felipe understands the rules and if he doesn’t like it he can leave, just as someone else – Rubens Barrichello – did  a few years ago. He pointed out that just as Massa had helped Raikkonen in 2007 so Kimi had helped Felipe in 2008.

Both those incidents of course occurred in the last or next to last races of the season. When the team order rule was introduced by Max Mosley it was made clear that it would not apply in that situation, and everyone has always understood that. The whole point was to stop this sort of thing happening in the middle of the year. Massa was (and is) still in the title fight, albeit only mathematically.

In essence the evidence the radio messages that the viewing public at home also heard, although there was apparently some earlier traffic on the same subject that was not broadcast.

Rob Smedley initially told Massa, “Fernando is faster than you, can you confirm that you understand that message?”

Everyone in the paddock and watching at home had a pretty good idea of what those words implied, but Ferrari’s argument is that there nothing sinister behind them.

The big problem is that after the pass was made Smedley said, “Good lad, well done, sorry.”

With Rob saying that, and Felipe making his ceding of the lead oh so obvious (as Rubens did in Austria 2002), the pair have in effect dropped Ferrari in it. 

That apology clearly caught the attention of the stewards, and it’s going to be a key part of the investigation by the World Motor Sport Council. Indeed Smedley was called to see the stewards, along with the drivers, in order to explain what he meant when he apologised. We can guess that the only thing he could have told them that he was apologising for not providing a faster car…

One interesting aspect to the affair is that as far as I could tell, neither Alonso nor Stefano Domenicali majored on the fact that Vettel was not far behind –and that Massa in effect should have either got a move on or let Fernando past – by way of justification. It’ll be interesting if they try to use that now.

What happens next is the fascinating question, because in essence it is the role of FIA President Jean Todt to decide how and when the WMSC will deal with the matter. The next scheduled meeting in Como in early September, just before the Italian GP.

Clearly there will be some urgency to get it dealt with earlier, but it could prove hard for Todt to convene the WMSC in the August break when its various members will inevitably be on holiday. However he has already gained something of a reputation for wanting to resolve things quickly.

This is something of a step into the unknown for the Frenchman, as this is the first big F1 scandal to land in his lap, whereas such events had become a matter of routine for his predecessor Max Mosley.

Then of course there is the complication of his past involvement with Ferrari, his specific involvement in team orders that led to the implementation of Article 39.1 in the first place, and of course his personal relationship with Massa, who was first brought into the team by Todt.

He’s going to have to walk a tightrope as this affair unfolds. It’s going to be very hard for him to be seen as impartial, however honourable his intentions.

Earlier this year Todt lost his rag with me after I’d queried him at a press conference over the Stefan GP affair, based on the fact that his son Nicolas managed a driver who had the chance of being test driver for the team.

He didn’t like the suggestion that he had been influenced in any way by having an inside track on what was going on, even though I had actually made the point in print that he’d made the correct call in not allowing the team in.

Understandably he’s ultra sensitive to such scenarios, but given the many connections that he’s made during his long career, and his son’s own high profile involvement, it was inevitable that there would be perceived conflicts of interest.

Todt has made it clear that he will not play the sort of “hands-on” role that Mosley used to play, and once WMSC proceedings start, he will take a step back. But the fact is he is in the loop. Indeed he was apparently a visitor to the stewards’ room in Bahrain, Monaco and Silverstone this year, presumably having a good look at what was going on. Intriguingly the last two races also featured controversial incidents in which he took an interest.

The other fascinating aspect to all this is that it comes on the back of the safety car saga in Valencia and the drive through penalty that Alonso received in Silverstone. Ferrari made its displeasure with decisions in race control only too clear, and now for a third race in a row Fernando and the team have found themselves in the middle of controversy.

After perhaps saying too much in Valencia, Alonso has since tried to avoid stirring up trouble by blandly repeating a mantra along the lines of “the stewards are always right.”

I wonder if he really believes that today…

Michael Schumacher has defended Ferrari’s use of team orders in Hockenheim – while admitting that the team might sometimes have got it wrong in his era.

Schumacher said he totally understands Ferrari’s quest to win the title with Alonso, but in effect conceded that Austria 2002 – the pass that led to the ban – was over the top, because the team was so dominant at the time.

“Watching TV occasionally [on the big screens] I saw Felipe be in first position,” said Schumacher. “I felt obviously happy because he’s a friend of mine. Then hearing Alonso has won the race I was wondering what kind of strategy was that?

“I have been criticised in the past, for exactly that. I have to say I understand 100% and I would do exactly the same if I would be in their situation. Because at the end of the day what are we here for? It’s fighting for a championship. There’s only one that can win the championship. By the end of the year if you think you have lost the championship for exactly that point you will ask yourself, not only yourself but all the fans, all the TV, all the journalists and so on, why didn’t you do so?

“And I think if you go back to other years in other teams in other situations, in the last race for example, there were clear team orders. And everybody accepts those. That’s normal, that’s the last race, and so on. So whether it’s the last race or second last race or even earlier, what’s the point [of criticising]?

“I can see like in the years where in the years when we did it, we were leading so much and people thought it was unnecessary. I can agree on that one in a way. But in principle I fully accept and agree [with] what’s going on.

“You have to do it in a way that’s maybe nice and not too obvious, make it a nice fight, but there’s only one target. And that’s winning the championship.”

Co-incidentally his former team mate Eddie Irvine echoed that last statement exactly tonight…

After speaking to Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa the FIA race stewards in Hockenheim have found Ferrari guilty of breaching Article 151C, which refers to bringing the sport into disrepute, in addition to breaking Article 39.1, the team orders rule. It says, ‘Team orders which interfere with a race are prohbited.’

The result stands as of today, but the matter will be referred to the World Motor Sport Council and the team has been fined $100,000.

It’s a fascinating scenario because Jean Todt will inevitably be at the heart of whatever happens next. on the one hand he is well versed in the intricacies of team orders, and on the other, he is of course like a second father to Massa. As FIA President he takes a step back from the actual process but he will clearly be a major player in the coming days.

Ron Dennis is paying his first ever visit to a NASCAR race this weekend at the Brickyard 400, where his old pal Juan Pablo Montoya starts from pole on Sunday.

Dennis had a dinner with Jeff Gordon and told my colleagues at AutoWeek that the former champ was “Massively impressive. If other drivers here have his approach then you have an amazing group of drivers. I didn’t expect someone to be so grounded and so knowledgeable about what it takes to be successful.”

He also took a blast at US F1: “They were given opportunity after opportunity, and they didn’t tell the truth. They never had the depth, they never had the understanding, they never had the resources.”

More intriguingly when asked about the US GP he indicated that Austin might not get there first, saying there were “Two or three separate projects. That’s not for me to share.”

McLaren Electronics already does business in NASCAR, and the main reason for Ron’s trip was to increase that.

Michael Schumacher failed to make the top 10 in qualifying for his home race in Hockenheim, but the narrow margin meant he was in a far from unhappy mood after the session.

Michael was 11^th in Q2 but was only 0.080s behind team mate Nico Rosberg. However, that meant the difference between going through or not.

“A hundredth between my team mate and myself, that just kicked me out of Q3!,” said Schumacher. “A bit disappointed because we were naturally expecting to be fifth or sixth instead of 1oth/11th. It’s not a very optimistic view for tomorrow, I have to say. Naturally we’re a bit stronger in race pace than we are in qualifying pace.

“It’s under expectations, especially for our fans. You want the world for all of those guys here, it’s such a nice atmosphere. Then you are handcuffed with certain things you are given. We are trying hard, everybody has tried hard. We have new upgrades here, but unfortunately others have done even better or (ours) just haven’t affected enough to our expectation.”

Michael said he had no real answer as to where Mercedes was losing out: “If there are specific reasons for this we’ll check it out. I had specific issues on my brakes, but I don’t think that’s a real factor for not being fifth or sixth, it might be a factor for being 10^th or 11^th. It’s not really important at this stage.”

Schumacher does of course now have a free choice of tyres, but he has another reason for preferring to be on the odd-numbered side of the grid.

“I’d prefer to be 11^th than 10^th, I have to say. The difference right to left is apparently significant. That’s the good thing about it. I’m just behind my team mate, I can take a slipstream from him and see what we can do…”

Mark Webber admits that a mistake on his final qualifying lap not only cost him a shot at pole in Hockenheim, but also dumped him to fourth behind Felipe Massa.

Webber went off at the start of his last lap, and thus had to settle for the time he’d set earlier on his first run.

“Today I lost my last run, so that was a mistake from my side,” said Webber. “It was a pretty tight qualy until then. I would like to of course had my last attempt, because that’s when you need to do it. But I got Turn One wrong, and I paid the price obviously to have a chance of maybe going for the front row, but it definitely lost third place. First time I’ve been off the front row for a long time, but looking forward to the race tomorrow.

“I was just looking to get the nice clean line in, but I must have got a little bit on the kerb on the outside. I didn’t even get into the apex. So, totally my fault.”

Webber says that from fourth place it won’t be impossible to make progress: “Yeah, you can pass. I haven’t seen the top speeds yet, but it’s not Barcelona. It should be pretty interesting to see how the race unfolds in that sense.”

He insists that he’s not been surprised by Ferrari’s pace this weekend.

“Not really. They were very, very quick in Silverstone to be honest, but they had a poor first lap with Fernando. I went to my pub during the week, and the guy said any tips on who I should put my money on, because all the odds are very short. I said put some money on Alonso to win Budapest. So maybe I’m wrong, maybe he wins tomorrow!”

Jenson Button says he’s happy with the update package on the McLaren after outqualifying his team mate for the first time since China.

Button will start fifth behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris, and optimistic that the car will have a better race pace than it showed in qualifying.

“It’s been a tough weekend for everyone,” said Button. “The weather’s been pretty bad, and for us Lewis had a crash on Friday. So that limited what we could do in testing on the Friday, because obviously I had to do a lot of the long run work.

“Today the balance to me felt pretty good in qualifying, we eventually got there in the end in Q3 and I felt like it was a good lap. I’m happy that I’m near the front, and I felt like I did a good job in qualifying, but we’re seven-tenths behind the Red Bulls, which is too much.

“We’ve definitely made a step forward, the car feels good around here. Its not enough in qualy spec, and it shows. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll see some more performance in the car.”

Button says he’s not worried about rain on Sunday.

“I’m pretty happy. I wasn’t on Friday morning, the car was very pointy, but we know why that was, and we’ve changed the car to help it now. This morning it was good in the wet conditions, and in the dry, the car feels good.

“We just don’t have the pace of the Red Bull, which is quite worrying really. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a good race. From fifth on the grid, anything can happen.

“The first lap is great round here. It’s a fun circuit to drive on and on the first lap, all hell breaks loose, so hopefully we’ll be in a good place for that tomorrow.”

Mark Webber says he expects strong competition from Ferrari in Germany after Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished the dry Friday afternoon session in Hockenheim in first and third places.

 The Red Bulls were second and fourth fastest, and on a bad day for McLaren it appeared that the red cars will be RBR’s most likely challengers for the rest of the weekend.

“It wasn’t the easiest day for everybody,” said Webber. “The track conditions were pretty tricky. Also, selecting the right tyres at the right time wasn’t straightforward. But we got some information at the end there. Obviously the track was pretty dry. It was as good as you would hope in those sorts of conditions.

“The car felt pretty good. There’s some work to do tonight, but Ferrari look strong. So yeah, we’ve got some competition this weekend, and I’m looking forward to the race.”

Webber says he’s not worried if the weekend remains wet after experiencing no dramas in the morning session.

“We learned that both wets work OK, the full wet and the intermediate. Obviously the track is drying in different sections, so that makes it a bit more challenging. The tyres behaved themselves in the wet conditions.

“It’s easy to lock your brakes in the braking area, at the big stops – Turn 2, Turn 6, Turn 8, there’s quite a few places where it’s easy to get out of the line, and when you get out of the line you’re going to get out of the track. All of us looked like we took the long route at some stage today.

“I think everyone would like to have a bit more stable conditions, because it gives everyone grey hairs, including engineers, drivers, everyone. Except the fans, they love it! Apart from that, I’m looking forward to it.”