Ecclestone wants end to ban on team orders

FORMULA One supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes team bosses should be allowed to call the shots as they see fit.

Ecclestone was speaking following the furore that erupted at Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim when the stewards fined Ferrari $100,000 (64,800) for implementing team orders.

The stewards saw through Ferrari's coded messages to Felipe Massa that were issued by race engineer Rob Smedley, that culminated in the Brazilian slowing down and allowing team-mate Fernando Alonso to claim victory.

The incident has been referred to the World Motor Sport Council for further consideration, which may yet result in additional sanctions.

Critics, commentators and current F1 personnel have since proposed a number of potential penalties, such as the order of the top two being reversed, or the team having their points deducted but with the drivers allowed to retain theirs. At the heart of the matter is article 39.1 of the FIA's sporting regulations that caught Ferrari, that team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.

Ecclestone was naturally unable to comment on the specific incident as he will be sitting on any WMSC meeting should the case be heard. However, the 78-year-old was able to offer his thoughts on the proposal, as mentioned by former driver David Coulthard after the race, that it is time for the rule to be scrapped.

"I must confess I would agree with anyone who thinks that," said Ecclestone. "We make people call it a team, we say it's got be a team. All the cars have to be exactly the same, the drivers wear the same overalls, so everybody has to look like a team - a team of people that are racing."

Given his power, Ecclestone is obviously in a position to suggest the possibility of the regulation being written out of the rule book.

"I don't know, we'll have to see. It's something that needs to be discussed," he added.

It is a regulation that came into force after the Austrian Grand Prix of 2002 when then Ferrari team boss and current FIA president Jean Todt ordered Rubens Barrichello to give up his race win for team-mate Michael Schumacher. Barrichello did so at the final corner, causing an outrage, and just a year after he had ceded second place in the same race to the German after again being told to do so.

Unsurprisingly, in the wake of stinging criticism from many F1 observers such as Eddie Jordan and Niki Lauda, one man who could see no wrong in Ferrari's actions was Schumacher himself.

"I have been criticised in the past for exactly that (being given the win)," he said. "I have to say I understand 100 per cent and I would do exactly the same if I were in their situation.