21/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Although (as ever) some sections of the paddock, and indeed the media, are attempting to paint Ferrari as the villain of the piece, responsible for Sunday's debacle, rival team boss Frank Williams insists that the Italian team is blameless.
"They were totally innocent in this affair entirely," he told Reuters. "They had no reason not to race."
As a dispute which sees most of the F1 teams threatening to forsake F1 - as we know it - for a new rival series, rumbles on, the majority of the teams are lined up against Ferrari. Therefore, when it was first reported on Sunday that Jordan and Minardi had agreed to the seven Michelin teams' requests for a chicane to be put in place at Turn 13, it was assumed - indeed in some quarters claimed - that Ferrari had refused and thereby ended all hopes of a settlement.
Ferrari's Jean Todt has said that he was not asked about the chicane but if he had been would not have agreed. However, he claims, this is academic, since it is only the FIA - not the teams - that can make such a decision.