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Todt denies bowing to Ferrari’s team orders pressure

Jean Todt has hinted that F1’s team orders ban will be reconsidered in order to make the sport more “transparent”.

But the FIA president denied he is bowing to the pressure and ideals of Ferrari, the famous Italian team he led to enormous success last decade.

Maranello based Ferrari recently and controversially escaped additional penalties for switching the places of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim.

Instead, the World Motor Sport Council ruled that the ban on team orders, installed after Todt ordered Rubens Barrichello to let Michael Schumacher win the 2002 Austrian grand prix, be reconsidered.

“I’m not for or against team orders; it depends on the situation,” Todt told the Clarin daily whilst visiting Argentina.

“It’s as old as racing,” the Frenchman insisted.  “After what happened with Alonso and Massa in Germany, the issue was reopened and passed to a committee to make the rules clear.

“The idea is to find out what is most healthy and transparent,” said Todt.

He denied that the FIA’s apparently new approach to team orders demonstrates a link between his new presidency and Ferrari.

Asked what his response to those types of critics is, Todt answered: “They are fools.

“It is the same as when I was with Peugeot, and also Ferrari.  Now as president of the FIA, I do my best for the organisation, regardless of the particular interests of others,” he explained.

© RIF | GMM