• McLaren news

No team orders at McLaren - Whitmarsh

ESPNF1 Staff
July 26, 2010 « FIA declares Red Bull and Ferrari front wings legal | »
Martin Whitmarsh said McLaren would not have done the same as Ferrari © Getty Images
Enlarge

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has refused to comment on the Ferrari team orders scandal but insists the same thing would not have happened at McLaren under his watch.

At the German Grand Prix the stewards fined Ferrari for implementing team orders and it could face further punishment when the issue is put before the FIA World Motor Sport Council. Whitmarsh said McLaren would never have ordered its drivers to swap positions under the same circumstances.

"You can go back to the late 90s and all sorts of times when things have happened - but we decide to race," he told Autosport. "I think having our drivers racing, in the longer term, is a healthy thing to do for this team. That is my decision and that is what we want to do. Others do what they want to do, and it is for the FIA and Ferrari to determine what they think is right. We were racing our two guys until the end of the race."

He said he did not want to comment publically on the issue.

"I don't want to get drawn into it," he added. "I have my own private views on it. They were quicker than us today; they got a 1-2, but perhaps in a different order from that which people may have thought was right. I will give my private views to Ferrari, but I don't want to go on record and express those views."

"All I know is the same as you. I heard what I heard, I saw what I saw, but it is for others to comment on. Ferrari were quick and we did what we could - and they raced how they raced. That was not a new approach from Ferrari, was it?"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close