Ferrari was fined $100,000 and risked further sanctions from Formula One's governing body Sunday after Fernando Alonso won a German Grand Prix clouded by its use of banned ‘team orders'. The Spaniard's success was engulfed in controversy from the moment the Brazilian was sent a veiled message to let him pass while leading the race. “I have to say that is the clearest team order I've ever seen,” said Red Bull team Christian Horner, whose German driver Sebastian Vettel finished third after starting on pole for the sixth time in 11 races. “It's wrong for the sport. The drivers should have been allowed to race.” The furore that followed was also a reflection of the sympathy surrounding Massa who might have otherwise stood on top of the podium on the first anniversary of his near-fatal Hungarian Grand Prix accident. After hearing from both drivers and Ferrari team manager Massimo Rivola, the four stewards – including former Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan – found Ferrari had broken the rules. In addition to the fine, the team was referred to the International Automobile Federation (FIA)'s world motorsport council which can impose unlimited penalties. While Massa told a news conference that he had made the decision himself, saying he was struggling with the hard tires, the radio traffic suggested a different story. In a tense and hostile news conference, Massa faced questions about whether he was now No. 2 at the team. The ghost of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, where Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was ordered to let Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher win in a notorious incident that led to team orders being banned, also hung heavy in the air. Lotus engineering head Mike Gascoyne said he had sympathy for Ferrari but the gesture had been too blatant. “There's always been team orders in Formula One,” he said. “The bottom line is – if you are going to do it, do it far more cleverly than that.” Force India reprimanded after tire bungle Force India was reprimanded by stewards at the German Formula One Grand Prix Sunday after mixing up their drivers' tires. International Automobile Federation (FIA) technical delegate Jo Bauer reported after the race that the team had put one of Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi's rear super-soft tires on Adrian Sutil's car along with three of the German's allocation of hard ones at the first pitstop. Liuzzi was sent out with three super-soft tires and one rear hard.
