Ferrari summoned by stewards amid team orders scandal
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| The slower Massa was clearly holding up Alonso with Vettel lurking in third |
The Spanish driver dodged the issue during the post-race press conference, saying both drivers have to do what the team says.
"We tried to do our race, we tried to do as good as we can," said Alonso, who scored his second win of the year. "We are professional drivers and we try to work as a team and we try to do the best we can every day.
"Not only here on the track but in the race and factory, preparing the races. Again, I think we have been doing a good job in the last couple of races, finally we got a strong Sunday with a strong result. I think we are happy with this – all the other things, it is more for you [media] if you want to write all these things."
"We try to put a show always for the spectators. As Felipe said, we work for companies, we work for teams. Sometimes we saw this year crashes between teammates. Today Ferrari has 42 points in its pockets. That is what we are here for."
Massa said he felt he deserved victory, but claimed he was thinking about the team. We are not sure how he can say that since it was Alonso and Vettel trading fastest race laps at the end and Massa could not respond. At the end of the race, when it counted, Alonso was faster than Massa and deserved to win.
"For sure you always want to win, that is always what we race for," Massa said. "For sure we don't have team orders in the team. You just do the race you can and if you cannot do the race you can you have to think about the team." Meaning if Vettel was faster and closing then the faster Ferrari had to go to the lead to ensure victory for one of the two Italian cars. Had Massa held up Alonso any longer Vettel might have caught and passed both of them.
The Brazilian said he was not worried about his image following the controversy.
"For sure not. I am very professional and I show in my career how professional I am. You are professional as well, you work for your company, you are doing what you have to do, I am professional and today I showed how professional I am."
07/25/10 (GMM) Ferrari team management have been summoned by the stewards at Hockenheim. Long after the checkered flag at the German grand prix, won by Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa, the paddock was still abuzz with suggestions the Italian team breached the ban on team orders.
Via Massa's race engineer, the Brazilian was told emphatically that Alonso "is faster than you", after which the Spaniard moved ahead of the slowing sister F10.
But the stewards' investigation only followed a pitlane and paddock furor, and an FIA press conference described as downright "hostile" by one observer.
Alonso was asked by one reporter if his 2010 success would now be a "dirty championship".
But BBC pundits David Coulthard and Martin Brundle said it was Ferrari's handling of the team order that was the problem, with Lotus' Mike Gascoyne admitting the team handled it "stupidly".
Mercifully for Red Bull, the scandal has for now overtaken an emerging controversy about the flexibility of the team's new front wing.
Photographs have emerged that allegedly prove the element bends at speed, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said: "It has passed all the stress tests and scrutineering.
"If other people are not happy, they should protest," he added.
Horner refused to confirm whether Red Bull specifically asked the stewards to look into Ferrari's team orders breach.