Ron Dennis says Don't ban team orders

By Andrew Hooper
May 19 2002

 

 

  
Don't ban team orders
 
There has been an outcry over the staged finish by the Ferrari team at the Austrian Grand Prix but one voice asks that the FIA do not change the rules governing team orders not changed, that of McLaren boss Ron Dennis..

Ron DennisDennis supports the view that the Ferrari team did not break the sport's regulations when they ordered Rubens Barrichello to surrender victory to team mate Michael Schumacher.

As for the comparison between what McLaren did in the 1998 Australian GP, when David Coulthard slowed to let then team mate Mika Hakkinen take the chequered flag, Dennis denied that there was any similarity.

"The circumstances were completely different in Australia," he commented. "It was the first Grand Prix of the season, our cars were quite strong in practice and our drivers decided whoever came out of the first corner first would win the race.

"They were correcting the outcome of that race. They did it in order not to push each other and in order to have a points advantage coming out of the first event. It's a different animal [to what happened in Austria].

"I don't really want to get drawn into this. I don't think the rules should be changed. What Ferrari did was completely within the rules. There is nothing wrong with what they did as regards regulatory matters.

"I am just not surprised by what happened. It is how they choose to run their team. What happened was consistent with the way they chose to run their team. They have a declared number one [Michael Schumacher] and that's the beginning and end of it."

Dennis would not be drawn into criticising Ferrari. "It is not how we run our team," he added. "I am not going to criticise Ferrari.

"Because they are in a dominant position at the moment they choose to make these decisions and they have to stick by the consequences. They have done nothing they haven't done before and have stated is their intention. They run with a number one and a number two.

"Rubens signed a contract on that basis and I am sure that he is happy to have the opportunity to come second. He could be in another car and not have that ability. If I was a racing driver I would want to be able to win if I was able to - on merit. But that's me, I am not a racing driver.

"I am a team principal of McLaren and we have a declared equality policy which, I think, stands the team in good stead. It may cost championship positions or even a world championship but I still maintain it is the way you should run a Grand Prix team."

But as for its effect on the public's perception of Formula One as a sport Dennis added: "It's hardly a good endorsement, is it?"
 
 
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