FIA scrap team orders rule

The FIA have paved the way for the use of team orders in Formula One from next season after deleting the regulation which banned them from their rulebook.

Ferrari sparked controversy at the German Grand Prix in July when Felipe Massa ceded the lead, and potentially victory, to team-mate Fernando Alonso following a series of coded radio messages.

The stewards fined Ferrari after the race and forwarded the matter to the World Motor Sport Council for further consideration.

The WMSC, however, merely upheld the fine, and instead of imposing any further punishment, instead proposed the rule be reviewed.

Following a meeting of the WMSC in Monaco yesterday, they announced the article forbidding team orders had been “deleted” from the 2011 Sporting Regulations.

However, there followed an immediate caveat reminding teams that “any actions liable to bring the sport into disrepute are dealt with under article 151c of the International Sporting Code and any other relevant provisions”.

That caveat means teams will not have carte blanche to change the positions of their drivers in a race at a whim.

In the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix Ferrari team principal and current FIA president Jean Todt ordered Rubens Barrichello to give up victory in favour of Michael Schumacher. It was that particular incident that forced the FIA to act in the first place, but eight years later the thinking of former president Max Mosley has now been reversed.

Teams, however, now know that via a certain degree of subtlety they can still utilise team orders without falling into the net of the catch-all article 151c.

It is a regulation that relates to ’any fraudulent conduct, or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally’.

Other changes to the Sporting and Technical Regulations for 2011 include amendments to the list of penalties stewards are permitted to apply, the reintroduction of intermediate tyres and the fact teams now have to make gearboxes last for five consecutive races rather than the current four.

The WMSC further announced that from 2013 radical new engine rules are to be introduced as F1 attempts to go green.

There will be a switch from the current 2.4-litre V8s to 1.6-litre, four-cylinder units with high-pressure fuel injection, and with a maximum 12,000rpm.

According to the FIA the new engines will deliver a 35% reduction in fuel consumption and feature extensive energy management and recovery systems, yet maintaining current levels of performance.

According to motor sport’s world governing body, their announcement “underlines the FIA’s commitment to improving sustainability and addressing the needs of the automotive industry.”

In a further move to cut engine costs, from 2013 drivers will only be allowed to use five per season – the limit is currently eight – with that figure cut to four from 2014.