The FIA, F1’s governing body, has summoned the Ferrari team to appear before the World Motor Sports Council to account for its tactics at the Austrian Grand Prix. This follows an outcry by disgruntled fans and the Italian and British Press after the race.
The council will convene on June 26 in Paris, where the management of the Ferrari team and its drivers will be asked to account for their actions at the end of the race, when Rubens Barrichello slowed to let Michael Schumacher win.
They will also have to explain their actions at the podium ceremony when the German pushed his Brazilian team-mate onto the top step, where he remained while the German national anthem played. Schumacher also handed the Brazilian the winner’s trophy – a clear contravention of the governing body's procedure.
It is not clear what action, if any, the FIA will take against Ferrari. However, the question of bringing the sport into disrepute is bound to the major point of discussion in the run-up to June 26. Some observers have speculated that Schumacher could lose the points he won for finishing first in the race after his team-mate was ordered to slow metres before the finish line on the last lap. Others believe both drivers could be penalised by being banned from a race or future races
Technically, Ferrari did not break any rules, but sources close to the FIA believe the incident was against the spirit of competition.
An FIA statement said: "Following an incident during the last lap of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix... the FIA has summoned the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and the drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to appear before the World Motor Sports Council."
Meanwhile, the tifosi and newspapers in the Italian press were reeling with disillusionment following Ferrari’s manipulation of the result of the A1-Ring race. A poll held by the website of Italy's foremost sports newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport, showed that only six per cent of readers agreed with the way the team had ordered Barrichello to move over and hand the world champion his 57th win.
On Monday, the Gazetta ran with the headline “Ferrari ruins everything”, and its report leveled the blame at the team’s sporting director, Jean Todt, but argued that Schumacher could have “calmed the situation”.
"Michael was the only one who had the strength to oppose a decision that was insanely unsportsmanlike and unpopular," the report said. "This is a catastrophe for Ferrari because certain things one remembers and talks about."
Its main rival, the Corriere dello Sport, took the line that Barrichello's newly signed two-year contract accounted for his obedience of Ferrari’s orders, despite the fact that he was heading for only his second Grand Prix victory.
"Rubens - paid to lose," the paper declared. "He has been fooled one time too many. Now Rubens Barrichello shows the world a dull, pale, face of thunder."
However, the Brazilian received a more sympathetic reaction from L'Unita. "Barrichello defeated by Team Ferrari," read the headline. "The crowd sang the praises of Barrichello, like the audience at the Coliseum did with their beloved gladiators."
Back in Barrichello's homeland, the Brazilian president was adamant that the best man had lost. "Today, all Brazil is unanimous," Fernando Henrique Cardoso told the nation. "Rubens Barrichello was the winner of the Austrian Grand Prix. The cup is his."
Britain's newspapers have, understandably, dealt Ferrari a series of stinging attacks. The Sun led with “The day Formula 1 died of shame”, the Daily Mirror: “The end of Formula One”, the Daily Telegraph: “Formula One is the loser” and The Times: “Schumacher's cynical victory casts shame on Formula One”.
Newspaper column writers vented their anger on both Schumacher and Barrichello. The Guardian's Richard Williams described Schumacher allowing Barrichello on to the top step of the podium as a "nauseatingly hypocritical gesture". And he, like many others, “found it hard to believe that Schumacher did not have any say in the decision, something the German denied after the race”.
Barrichello has also come in for criticism after accepting the decision so easily. As Kevin Eason in The Times pointed out: "The fact that the ink is barely dry on a new contract worth R118,4 million to the Brazilian only added to the feeling that he has taken 30 pieces of silver to act as Schumacher's mercenary in the battle for the championship."
It appears as if some quarters of the British press will find it hard to take F1 seriously after this controversial weekend. As Simon Hughes of The Telegraph said: "When is a sport not a sport? When it is Formula One."
Italian online betting company Snai said it would pay punters who staked money on Barrichello winning the Austrian Grand Prix.
"This decision has been taken to protect our customers who had placed Barrichello as the winner," Snai said in a statement.
The company said 35 per cent of bets placed had picked Barrichello as the winner, with 34 per cent backing four-time world champion Schumacher.
Swedish public lottery Svenska Spel announced they had suspended all bets on F1 racing following the row, and had also agreed to pay out on bets made for Barrichello.
"According to our rules we only have to pay bets taken on Schumacher. Because of the special events we have chosen to make an exception to the rule," a spokesman for Svenska Spel said.
