20/08/2010
NEWS STORY
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Ferrari has hit back at its former driver Niki Lauda in response to his call on the FIA to throw the book at it for using team orders to fix the result of the German Grand Prix.
Speaking to the official website, Lauda - who won two of his titles with the Maranello outfit - accused the Italian team of cheating race fans.
"You have two models of how to race in Formula One as a team," he said. "If you approach it politically then you are in the Ferrari mould. Or you try to give both your drivers equal opportunities and the fans an exciting sport, as Red Bull are doing in letting their drivers compete with each other.
"That is what makes this sport a crowd-puller," he continued, "because they see the best guys in the best cars racing each other with a 'may the best man win' philosophy - and not mocking the fans with a collusive result. What they (Ferrari) did in Hockenheim was against all rules. Either the rules are changed or everybody observes them.
"What they've done is wrong and they got an immediate punishment - and they will get a pasting from the World Council that is for sure."
However, on the Ferrari website 'the horse whisperer' hits back at the Austrian, and how.
"After events in Hockenheim, a wave of hypocrisy swept through the paddock, with so many pundits, young and old, keen to have their say: some were promptly brought back into line by his master's voice, while others continue to pronounce sentence willy-nilly.
"The latest missive comes from Austria, from a person, who having hung up his helmet, has never missed out on a chance to dispense opinions left and right, even if, on more than one occasion, he has had to indulge in some verbal acrobatics to reposition himself in line with the prevailing wind.
"This time, good old Niki has missed out on a fine opportunity to keep his mouth shut, given that, when he was a Scuderia driver, the supposed Ferrari driver management policy suited him perfectly…That aside, where was all his moral fury when, over the past years, so many have been guilty of more or less overt hypocritical actions?
"As for any predictions regarding a possible decision from the FIA World Council on 8 September, time will tell: in this sort of situation, the best policy is to respect and to trust in the highest level of the sport's governing body."