While this may be no surprise to some, Ross brawn has weighed in on the team orders issue that plagued Sunday’s German Grand Prix. It seems the man, who has used team orders with great efficacy at Ferrari, is against the ban on team orders as stated in FIA’s sporting regulation article 39.1. Brawn told Gazzetta dello Sport:
“I understand how F1 fans might be disappointed by what they have seen on Sunday,” he told
“The rule that bans team orders is not realistic anymore. The teams and the FIA must find together a transparent solution that maintains the integrity of the competition and safeguards the sport.”
“Our drivers are asked to avoid clashing against each other,” said Brawn, “and if one has the chance to take the title while the other one doesn’t, we want both of them to act in the interest of the team without throwing away that opportunity.”
Brawn was the team boss of Ferrari and orchestrated the incident that prompted the creation of Article 39.1 when Rubens Barrichello handed the victory to Michael Schumacher in the 2002 Austrian GP.
Earlier this week, Schumacher had defended Ferrari’s move on last Sunday and now his former team boss has as well. Not shocking but perhaps they’re right? The stakes are high and the money is large.
Team orders exist and perhaps Brawn is suggesting that they can be an interesting element to F1 racing and not the pariah we have made it out to be.
