Ferrari To Avoid Team Orders Inquiry.

Ferrari is likely to avoid an investigation into the manoeuvre which saw Michael Schumacher pass team-mate Eddie Irvine for third place at the Austrian GP, with McLaren boss Ron Dennis saying that he was unconcerned about the issue.

The Italian team alleges that Irvine was experiencing brake trouble in the latter stages of the race, and had to slow dramatically to avoid a non-finish. His reduced pace allowed Schumacher to take the final podium place, and score a vital extra point in the championship race. Team boss Jean Todt later defended the Ulsterman: (Eddie drove an attacking race, but he had brake problems in the final stages and we warned him of this. For that reason he did not take any unnecessary risks in keeping his team-mate behind him.)


Although he described the brake problems as charade, Dennis said he had no problems with the result of the race, in which his drivers finished one-two. (What happened today was Formula One racing,) he said, (and it was the right outcome, with teams racing against teams.)

McLaren was at the centre of a furore following a deliberately engineered result at the season opening Australian GP, which resulted in the FIA formally outlawing team orders.