I’d hate to be a number two driver for Ferrari. You’ve fiercely muscled your way into the lead of a Grand Prix, and you’re gunning for the win. It’s your long-awaited moment in the spotlight; your fifteen minutes of fame; probably the best chance you’ll have all season of adding your name to the winners’ list. You’re ravenous for the glory and your head is pounding with the adrenalin as you take corner after endless corner, anxiously glancing in your mirrors every so often to check you’re still a country mile in front.

And then it happens – the dreaded call over the pit-to-car radio, informing you that your stable mate is in fact faster than you, and would you be so kind as to shift aside and let him past, please?

There’s no wonder second-placed Felipe Massa was so tight-lipped in yesterday’s post-race press conference. Anyone with a modicum of decency would have been just as embarrassed at such petulant actions as he appeared to be. You probably wouldn’t dare mention the team orders as, after all, they are illegal in F1 these days. Ferrari knows that as well as anyone. But then again, how do you go about covering up something that’s as blatantly obvious as the proverbial sore thumb?

It doesn’t take a genius to decipher Rob Smedley’s radio message to poor Massa, then the race leader, on lap 48 of the German Grand Prix. “Fernando is faster than you,” he said, pronouncing each syllable carefully as though the amicable Brazilian might turn around with all the arrogance of a chav in the street and snap, “Yeh pal, so wot?” Could he then confirm he’d understood the message, asked Smedley. Alonso’s clean pass on the following lap confirmed perfectly well he’d understood it, and once again we found ourselves cursing the impudence and unsportsmanlike behaviour of one of F1’s biggest teams.

Yes, we understand that Alonso has more chance of landing the title than Massa. Yes, we know how much Ferrari want to throw their secret weapon into the mix among the rampaging Red Bulls and the marauding Mclarens. But what we don’t appreciate is the way in which they went about it yesterday at Hockenheim. It defeats the whole basic objective of a race, that the best man shall win on his own hard-earned merit. Ferrari fans everywhere will be turning scarlet red with the shame of supporting a team who can willingly sniff at the valiant efforts of one driver and shove him aside for the other. They’ve done it before, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone now if they do it again.

We learn today that a fine of 100,000 dollars has been imposed upon F1’s red devils for ‘breaching sporting regulations after appearing to implement team orders’ – but the controversial result still stands as Ferrari continue to insist that the incident was a driver decision, and not a team one. Massa said so himself in post-race interviews that he had taken the initiative to slow down and let Alonso through for the sake of the Spaniard’s championship chances – but the whole charade was far from convincing. Man up, Massa. You’re a world class driver, and no one deserves a world title more than you.

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