Looking back on my experiences of team orders at Jerez 1997 and Melbourne '98, when McLaren told me to let Mika Hakkinen past, I know how tough it was for Felipe Massa to give up his German Grand Prix win. But to his credit, the way he handled the whole situation as an employee of Ferrari was impeccable. I can understand completely why he made the switch obvious, just as I did in Melbourne, because you've got your own reputation to protect. Since the start of Felipe's career, when he was a bit wild, it wasn't obvious that he would ever win a grand prix. But he has grown as a driver. That great win under pressure in difficult conditions when he was fighting for the world championship in Brazil 2008 was his defining race, and at Hockenheim it was the first time that we¹ve seen a genuinely big performance from him since last year's accident. He was brave and willing to push ­ and exceed ­ the limit in practice, his start was incredible and, although he wasn't quite as quick as Fernando Alonso, he did everything that he needed to do to win. Unfortunately, there are team decisions to be made in F1 and to pretend that there are no such orders is absurd.

NONSENSE RULE
The FIA originally brought in the team orders ban in response to the public outcry after Austria 2002 ­ when Rubens Barrichello handed victory to Michael Schumacher at the last corner. Partly ­ that was down to a lack of understanding of the nature of grand prix racing. I have sympathy with people reacting in this way to what they are seeing, because I want to see great racing like everybody else, but Ferrari's job is to win the world championship and therefore sell its cars. Decisions must be made for the good of the company and to make out that it doesn¹t happen is ridiculous. This is not an individual sport and it's time to have this out in the open. This was not the same situation as Austria 2002, as that was far too early for team orders and Schumacher already had a 21-point lead over Juan Pablo Montoya going into that race. It was only the sixth race of the season after all!

NO COVER UP
You could argue that Ferrari should have been more subtle in the way that it swapped its drivers around. But there's no way I wouldn't have worked it out, or that the readers of AUTOSPORT wouldn't have spotted it straight away. Let's not forget, making it less obvious doesn't make it right. The stewards obviously feel that Ferrari's actions are in breach of the rules so it will go before the FIA World Motor Sport Council. It'll be a great story in the media, and all of the journalists and TV crews will be standing in the Place de la Concorde in Paris for hours, waiting to find out what happens. It's also a story to keep up the coverage over the August break ­ funny how that kind of thing happens so often!

HUNGARY IS KEY RACE
The best news is that this was becoming a two-horse race, but now Ferrari is right back in it. We'll get a good idea in Hungary of just how fast the Prancing Horse can really gallop. There has been some bad luck in recent races with safety cars and stewards¹ decisions, but now Fernando is right back in it. That¹s another great talking point heading into the final stretch of the season.

Formula One is a team sport. There, I said it. It is not a popular view but it is the truth. And because it is a team sport, the frankly ludicrous ban on team orders that everyone is getting so worked up about should be scrapped.

Now just hear me out. I know that what we saw at Hockenheim on Sunday, when Felipe Massa was ordered aside for Fernando Alonso, was unpalatable to many fans but for goodness sake, wake up and smell the coffee.

Team orders happen in F1. They always have and they always will. Just because Ferrari were ham-fisted in breaking the rules, does it make their transgression any worse? I cannot believe some of the hypocrisy we’ve heard in the past couple of days.

The only way to stop team orders would be to race with one car. As long as there are two (and some teams want three — how difficult would it be then to control team orders?) the rule is unenforceable.

Team principals should be allowed to do the best they can for their team, for their employees, for their owners. That is what they always used to do. At some point during the past 60 years we seem to have lost sight of that fact.

The public furore is based on a fundamental misunderstanding, which is that Formula One is about the individual.

When I raced I lost sight of that as much as anyone else. Like every driver, I was racing for myself as well as the team. Unfortunately I was asked to make way for Mika Hakkinen at Jerez in 1997 and Melbourne a year later. Both times I acquiesced; both times reluctantly.

As I have written in previous columns, I have often wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t been so compliant. Perhaps I would have won more respect? Perhaps I would have been world champion? Perhaps I would have been fired? These are the kind of decisions a driver must weigh up.

No doubt Massa is grappling with such questions. The most damaging aspect of Sunday’s race is what it could do to his reputation. People will see him now as a ‘yes man’ who bends to the will of the company. And maybe they are right. Team player or stooge? The line is thin.

But it doesn’t change the underlying truth. My old team boss, Frank Williams, used to make decisions that would anger us drivers but when we complained about them he would say it was not about us, it was about the 700 employees in the team. We were just two paid drivers. He was right.

Ah, people will say, if it is a team sport then why is the drivers’ title the holy grail? You didn’t see Ferrari celebrate the constructors’ crown in 2008 after Lewis Hamilton pipped Massa to the drivers’ title.

That’s true. Sponsors need stars so teams will try to win that crown above all. That is the ultimate goal. It is tough luck for one of the two drivers but only one of them can win the thing.

Like the Tour de France, which is all about getting the team leader across the line first. Like a football team, who can sometimes sacrifice a player to man-mark a member of the opposition in order to give his striker room to score.

Like any team sport, in fact, the manager must be free to decide how best to manage his team. The players involved are free to obey or disobey — often the best sportsmen are not team players — but they do so at their own risk.

That is all part of the delicate and unique team-driver relationship.

The only possible drawback I can see to repealing the team orders rule is the encouragement it might give to the illegal gambling industry.

But it remains the only way of stopping charades such as the one we saw on Sunday.

All eyes were on Red Bull Racing two weeks ago with the decision to give the one remaining front wing to Sebastian Vettel over Mark Webber, this weekend its back to the serious business of racing and the big question is, with half a season gone who will emerge victorious in the battle for the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship?
 
RED BULL'S WING DILEMMA
First of all looking back on Silverstone there are a number of things to take into consideration: was it the right decision to favour the championship leader?  What will the long-term effects be on the team? Was this merely one of the natural speed bumps a team is going to encounter on the front-line of a world championship fight?
I don’t think you can doubt the credentials of the team; don’t forget it’s been around since its birth as Paul Stewart Racing and has huge strength in depth. But it is the first time that it’s been in such a strong position in Formula 1, so it’s inevitable that instances like this will happen in the white heat of an F1 development race, combined with two top race-winning drivers.
For me, it’s not so much about whether the decision was wrong on Saturday morning, or if Mark’s comments were acceptable on Sunday afternoon – I don’t think there is a right and wrong in this situation. They’re not government ministers who need to curry favour with public opinion, they are simply doing what they think is necessary to win the world championship.
So while there was a media outcry about the situation, the fact remains it’s the right of the team to make calls like this. The drivers are hired hands, but because their contracts are (usually) limited to a season or two, they tend to be more free-spirited, especially when it comes to the media and the public.
Racing cars are very pretty sat in the garage, but it’s always the human element that attracts the attention. That’s when F1 truly comes alive.
 
WHEN TO SPEAK YOUR MIND
Regarding Mark’s post-race comments, I’ve said things publically in my career at McLaren that I ultimately regretted. Not because I didn’t feel justified in the words that I’d said at the time, but when something goes public it can create tensions within the team, and you subsequently ask yourself in hindsight: ‘was that worth it?’ However, if you feel your position is at risk, and that needs bringing to the world’s attention, then of course you should do that.
Is there any concern going forward for Mark after what he said over the Silverstone weekend? Only time will tell. My belief is that this was a storm in a teacup. The team justified its position; Mark justified his words. Problems only arise when you do or say something that you later can’t back up.
Beyond that, the media and public opinion that neither team nor driver can ultimately control, well, that’s just the twists and turns of sport. Another plotline in the 2010 F1 movie – deal with it and move on. At Hockenheim, commence battle.
 
AN CURIOUS CIRCUIT
Hockenheim has a very specific set of demands. You need good top speed for that drag to the hairpin, but a lot of mechanical grip for its twisty stadium sections. I can see a slightly different mix of the grid this weekend, compared to Silverstone, but I can’t tell you exactly what that will be!
Will that throw a spanner in the works of the title fight? Maybe.
It’s a massive weekend for Mercedes, it’s first home grand prix as a works team for decades. It could well be that the nuances of the circuit suits it, and a big result there would help them immensely.
Michael Schumacher certainly needs a good run, as we’re at the halfway point of the season and he’s got a third of the points of his team-mate. How many people would have predicted that?
If anyone needs a result this weekend, Michael does.

There are two ways of running a race team. You can either go the Ferrari-Schumacher route, with one driver openly backed over the other. Or you can go for an equal partnership.

The first is the most effective way of winning a championship but morally dubious. The second is the fairer system but is incredibly volatile and difficult to put into practice.

My preference is for the second system. I once turned down the chance of a move to Ferrari as I would not accept being a signed-up No 2 to Michael.

Red Bull are clearly a team trying to do it the fair way, whatever Mark Webber may have said at Silverstone.

I have a huge amount of respect for Mark, and he had his own reasons for saying what he did. He clearly felt aggrieved that the team gave Sebastian Vettel his wing prior to qualifying, and he saw an opportunity to turn the situation in his favour by making his feelings plain to the media. That is his prerogative.

In many respects, that bloody-minded attitude is what I wish I had shown on the two occasions during my career, at Jerez in 1997 and Melbourne a year later, when I was asked to make way for my McLaren team-mate, Mika Hakkinen.

I will never know whether my compliance cost me the chance of a championship. Arguably Mika was the more complete driver anyway, but perhaps those incidents gave him additional confidence or subconsciously dented mine, as well as my self-esteem.

That is not to say, though, that I agree with Mark. As Christian Horner explained, his team were in an invidious position. With just one new front wing and two hungry drivers, he applied a logic he felt would give Red Bull the best chance of winning the championship. That is his prerogative.

OK, so the logic helped Sebastian as the leading driver, but to be fair to the team, with the standings now reversed, they have already said they will apply the same logic next time, which would help Mark.

The mistake Red Bull made, and which Christian has admitted, was that they did not go into the weekend with that system already in place and publicly known; that way they would not have left themselves open to accusations of partisanship.

This is not sitting on the fence. This is the paradox of Formula One. The driver-team relationship is one of the most complex in sport; a multi-million pound marriage with the divorce papers signed on the same day as the wedding. The relationship will end; that much is certain. It is just a question of time. During that time, both sides will try to extract the most they can from the partnership.

Red Bull would doubtless prefer it if Mark aired his grievances in private. Mark, who suspects Red Bull’s Austrian owners would prefer Vettel to win the championship, clearly feels he can gain more leverage by going public and trying to shame the team whenever he feels hard done by.

It is a risky strategy. If it goes wrong, the relationship with the team could sour irreparably. If it comes off, he could consolidate his position, attract public sympathy and be remembered as a steely champion who battled against the odds to win his title.

There were reports on Sunday night that Mark’s side of the garage taunted Seb’s. I have no idea if that is true — I have to say I sincerely doubt it — but race teams are tight-knit communities so this is undoubtedly a very big test for Christian. I think he is up to it.

He started the healing process with some appalling karaoke at the post-race party on Sunday night. It is easy to forget that Red Bull won the race on Sunday with a car that was out of this world; Adrian Newey has now designed 11 British Grand Prix-winning cars and the team are in great shape.

Red Bull learnt from Istanbul and they will learn from this. When the dust settles, I think they will take more positives than negatives.

Silverstone is a great challenge for a Formula 1 driver. From when you leave Luffield, the last corner, and until you arrive at Stowe you’re never below 200km/h. It’s a very high-speed opening to the lap, and it really sets your pulse racing.
I think we have a very high chance of seeing a British winner once again this weekend, with the current and former world champions in Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. The only thing that stands between them is the form of Red Bull and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari – I can only see those five drivers with a realistic chance of victory

NEW TRACK, NEW CHALLENGE
Silverstone has changed a few times since I first raced there, and the latest offering is designed to give a different challenge and more overtaking opportunities. Removing Bridge corner, and the Abbey chicane that preceded it, has created a very fast, flowing section.
Overall, we hope it will create even more exciting racing. It’s very bumpy in places, which will make it tricky for the guys to keep their throttle open at the apexes, so that could produce some overtaking in the following slow hairpins.
It seems that the approach of modern track designers is to create overtaking by creating the potential for mistakes; personally, I don’t agree with that. I think to create overtaking you need to create corners that encourage drivers to ‘have a go’ – and give them enough room on the exit of the corner so they’re not penalised for that. So you can still have cars running wheel-to-wheel on exits.
They have tightened Club, getting rid of that constant radius corner that allowed you take a couple of lines, and put in a second apex to force everyone on the same line. It remains to be seen whether that’s a wise move or not, as it did create some overtaking potential at the old Abbey.

WHO WILL IT SUIT?
Potentially, Silverstone should be a Red Bull track, but as we saw in Valencia and Canada, things have moved on. McLaren continues to develop apace in the right direction, Ferrari had a major upgrade at the last race. Okay, Ferrari didn’t get the boost it was expecting at Valencia, but don’t forget it struggled in Turkey and then Fernando almost won in Canada.
It’s an evolving picture at the moment; the expectation was that Red Bull would struggle at Valencia, and it went and won there! We’ll have to wait and see until qualifying on Saturday to get a true picture of who this revised track suits best.
Then there’s the variable of the weather – the circuit is particularly prone to being affected by windy conditions – which can make it as difficult and unpredictable as any British GP we’ve seen down the ages. And we’ve seen plenty of those…

WILL WEBBER BOUNCE BACK?
Mark Webber has entered a very exclusive club of those drivers who have flipped top-level racing cars more than once. That’s his third time now, twice in a Mercedes at Le Mans and once at Valencia in a Red Bull, and I don’t suppose he wants to add any more to that!
My experience is that when you crash a car, and you’re not hurt, you just want to get back in and get on with it. I think it was more shocking for us watching it – my adrenaline was certainly pumping as he flew through the air!
As an outsider you feel somewhat helpless, and your imagination can tell you what the outcome of a crash like that can be. It could have been a fatal crash, and none of us want to see that. I was shocked by how calm he was afterwards, and it shows the mettle of the guys behind the wheel.
I think he’ll go and deliver as usual at Silverstone. The only time he’ll feel shaky is racing wheel-to-wheel with another car, but that’s inevitable.
Mark’s someone who loves his sport, and we’ve been spoiled coming off Wimbledon and with a World Cup final to look forward to as well – I think everyone’s going to be well up for making this a classic British Grand Prix. I can’t wait.