Home | Formula 1 | Alonso title due to team orders ‘a shame’ for F1 – Heidfeld

Alonso title due to team orders ‘a shame’ for F1 – Heidfeld

Nick Heidfeld on Thursday said it would be a shame if the team orders saga is seen to have influenced the outcome of the drivers’ world championship.

With two races to go, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is 11 points ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber in the points standings.

7 of those points were earned in Hockenheim, where Alonso’s teammate Felipe Massa was controversially moved aside despite team orders being banned in F1.

Ferrari was fined $100,000 for the move but Alonso kept his points.

“If Alonso wins the championship with a margin less than the 7 points, it would devalue the championship — that’s a personal view,” said former FIA president Max Mosley.

Red Bull’s team boss Christian Horner agrees, stating that seeing Alonso win because of the extra points would be “frustrating”.

Sauber driver Heidfeld said in Brazil on Thursday: “From a team’s perspective, it (team orders) is perhaps understandable.

“But it would be a shame if the championship is decided by the fact that Red Bull has followed the rules while others see it maybe differently.

“If that happens, I would really hope that Red Bull’s behaviour is seen in a positive way,” the German is quoted by the news agency SID.

Earlier this week, McLaren team boss and FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh refused to say a title win for Alonso would reflect badly on the sport.

“I think we’ve had a very good championship and that’s what we should think about, full stop,” he said.

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