First there was Martin Brundle questioning Felipe Massa’s decision at the German Grand Prix. But that was just a nice fresh warm-up to David Coulthard’s reaction.
The key moment from DC’s Telegraph column? Here:
The most damaging aspect of Sunday’s race is what it could do to his reputation. People will see him now as a ‘yes man’ who bends to the will of the company. And maybe they are right. Team player or stooge? The line is thin.
The comment comes in a pretty valid piece on the team order ban, which as we’ve noted DC thinks needs to get dropped. Take a look. Here’s a few more key points:
Team orders happen in F1. They always have and they always will. Just because Ferrari were ham-fisted in breaking the rules, does it make their transgression any worse? I cannot believe some of the hypocrisy we’ve heard in the past couple of days.
The only way to stop team orders would be to race with one car. As long as there are two (and some teams want three — how difficult would it be then to control team orders?) the rule is unenforceable.
Team principals should be allowed to do the best they can for their team, for their employees, for their owners. That is what they always used to do. At some point during the past 60 years we seem to have lost sight of that fact.
And then, let’s try to look forward a little bit. Everyone seems to think Massa’s damaged in some way — whether his reputation, his pride or just his status at Ferrari. How do you think this all will play out in just a few days when the teams go to Hungary? And keep in mind that Massa will be returning to the scene of his accident. This sounds like all the pieces are there for something to happen. What might that be?
