Team orders

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Team Orders in motor racing is the practice of one driver allowing another from the same team or manufacturer to gain a higher finish on the say so of the team management. This is generally done when one driver is behind in a particular race but ahead overall in a championship season. The team will then order their drivers to rearrange themselves on the track so as to give the championship points to the driver who needs them most. Prime examples of this are the team orders issued by the Ferrari Formula One team to their drivers. This team's main driver Michael Schumacher consistently won the Formula One Drivers Championship, but would sometimes find himself behind his Ferrari team-mates on the track, such as (2000-2005) Rubens Barrichello. The Ferrari team would order Schumacher's team-mate to let him pass, as he was more likely to win the drivers championship and therefore it would be more useful for him to take the highest points.

Banning Of Team Orders In F1 Racing Such orders were legal and expected historically in motor racing. In the early years of the Formula One World Championship it was even legal for a driver to give up his car during the race to the team leader if his car had broken down. See 1957 British Grand Prix, for example. In the late 1990s incidents of team orders began to be reported more prominently by the media and public opinion began to turn against them (See 1997 European Grand Prix and 1998 Australian Grand Prix). Subsequently, after the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix incident where Rubens Barrichello was ordered to allow teammate Michael Schumacher to pass in order to obtain the win, "Team Orders" were banned in F1 regulations, although they are sometimes still implemented discreetly.