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View Full Version : Was Jean Todt embarrassed about the 'team orders' question?



raphael123
13th April 2007, 11:38
I must applaud Martin Brundle for asking questions that the viewers want to see, even at the risk of upsetting the drivers or team bosses, which could end up in them refusing to give future interviews. It's very refreshing.

I loved the fact that when Martin Brundle was asking Massa if he will be allowed to win this race if Kimi Raikkonen was behind, Jean Todt felt the need to jump in and ask Martin Brundle to 'will you ask any good questions?!'.

I don't think it was that much of an absurb question to ask when you consider Ferrari have taken such action in the past, but Jean Todt seemed quite embarassed by the suggestion. When you consider Raikkonen gets paid what Schumacher was, and Massa is still on a 'measily' £5m a year apparently, yet was Schumi's 'dog' so to speak, I think it was refreshing to hear Ferrari say there wouldn't be team orders...at this stage of the season anyway.

Back to Brundle, I remember when he interviewed Schumacher, and also while commentating told the viewers his displeasure of the fact Schumacher was constantly cutting up people at the start, and Schumacher responded to that critizism by refusing to ever be interviewed by Brundle again. Hence Brundle use to tell us that nearly everytime he did the grid walk lol.

Anyway, to sum it up, it made me wonder at how happy Ferrari were to have such a No1 and No2 system, even though it bought them so much success. I highly doubt they regret it, however it does seem to suggest they knew it was morally wrong, which is something they have never given any sign of thinking along those lines before.

It was obviously implemented through Schumachers influence, hence why Benettons got rid of it when he left, and it was immediately implemented at Ferrari, and the same thing has happened with Ferrari, 2 races into the season making it clear there is no such system in place anymore. I will miss Schumacher, but if his departure has bought one good thing, I hope it's that we don't have such an extreme No1 & No2 system with a team like they did at Ferrari with Schumacher - though in fairness it wasn't half as bad after the controversy in Austria that year!!

ArrowsFA1
13th April 2007, 11:46
Probably not embarrassed. Just tired of that question!

raphael123
13th April 2007, 11:56
I can't say I've seen many people ask that question quite that directly as Brundle did. I guess I only ever watch the British and French coverage, I suppose if your abroad maybe your (not you personally - your from wales I see :) ) commentators ask that question quite regularly.

Still, my points I've posted stick :)

BeansBeansBeans
13th April 2007, 12:01
It was good banter between Brundle and Todt. I don't think he was embarrassed by the question.

raphael123
13th April 2007, 12:08
Maybe embarrassed is the wrong choice of word I guess.

Still, it was good to watch, and I was happy to see him jump in and state that there would be no team orders, as if it was a silly thing to even think about - showing he knows it was wrong!

BeansBeansBeans
13th April 2007, 12:22
Yeah, I agree.

Brundle's gridwalks are brilliant. They've become part of F1 folklore. Though, I'm glad he respected Lewis's request to leave him alone before the race, because we don't want anything to jeopardise those lightening starts.

ioan
13th April 2007, 12:35
Would like to see Ron's face when sometime before the next races, if ever given hypocrisy, Brundle will ask Hamilton if he can win with Alonso a close 2nd! :D

BTW I fully agree with Arrows, people do have enough of stupid questions sometimes.

raphael123
13th April 2007, 12:45
lol I think Hamilton will need have the pace to beat Alonso before Ron make's a decision on that. So far Alonso has been the quicker of the two. Lewis was actually closer to Alonso in Oz. In Malaysia, even though they tested there the week prior to the race, Hamilton wasn't that close to Alonso. Saying that, he still did a splendid job.

And I fully agree Beans, Martin Brundle's gridwalks are great to watch! They definately add to the spectacle, and it's cool to see who's out on the grid. Martin Brundle is a bit of a legend I think :D

F1boat
13th April 2007, 13:47
I think that currently McLaren should be asked about team orders, not Ferrari.

13th April 2007, 19:19
Anyway, to sum it up, it made me wonder at how happy Ferrari were to have such a No1 and No2 system, even though it bought them so much success. I highly doubt they regret it, however it does seem to suggest they knew it was morally wrong

Dream on.

It may have been 'morally wrong' to you, but to me it was just common sense.

Ferrari probably knew it wouldn't be a hugely popular move, but they aren't racing to please self-appointed puritans, they are racing to win.

Don't be surprised if, after Sepang and Massa's performance, team-orders are very much back on the agenda at Ferrari.

tinchote
14th April 2007, 03:06
It was obviously implemented through Schumachers influence, hence why Benettons got rid of it when he left, and it was immediately implemented at Ferrari, and the same thing has happened with Ferrari, 2 races into the season making it clear there is no such system in place anymore.

You gotta be kidding. You would probably make a shorter list if you mention those seasons where Ferrari has not used team orders. Team orders have been there since 1950. And it makes total sense that it is like that: it's a sport where teams run.

raphael123
16th April 2007, 13:09
I think team-orders are acceptable near the end of the season where one driver has a much greater chance.

However if you are running 1-2, and you swap the drivers round after 4-5 races - I think that is wrong. Hence why there is a Constructors Title (for the team to earn), and a Drivers title (for the drivers to earn).

I'm sorry tamb, but some people put the sport before winning at all costs. I know that is generally not Ferrari's moto, but that doesn't mean to say everyone has no morals.

As I said, the seasons before with Alesi and Berger Ferrari didn't have such a system in place to the extreme Schumacher and IRvine etc did, and they haven't got that kind of system in place now either. Same with Benettons. Not many teams go round sacking drivers who improve year on year and get nearer their no1, and replace them with an unproven top driver, just because the previous driver was getting closer to their no1.

Retro Formula 1
29th July 2010, 20:53
Will be interesting to see how Todt deals with this issue 3 years on?

speeddurango
30th July 2010, 02:19
Brundle is great in the booth, but his effort in an aspiring tabloid junkie isn't working quite well.

Saint Devote
30th July 2010, 04:39
Fatso Brundle [these days even more of a Billy Bunter than Blundell?] is not welcome on the grid. He prides himself in a "gotcha" approach and while this will resonate with the same sort of people who crave "reality" tv, it is neither journalism nor fair to those being questioned.

He is no better now that he was in his very forgettable f1 career, in really only begun because he appeared to be giving Senna competition in f3 whilst all along it was the ground effects of the car versus Senna's which had nothing of the sort.

And it looks like his son "Alex" is about as useless as he was in a racing car.

Dave B
30th July 2010, 08:33
Gotcha approach? You do know that almost all those interviews are pre arranged via the teams' press officers, right?

truefan72
30th July 2010, 09:27
Gotcha approach? You do know that almost all those interviews are pre arranged via the teams' press officers, right?

why bother DB? :\