Ferrari: Team orders at the start dangerous, crazy

Maurizio Arrivabene has ruled out issuing team orders to his drivers for the start of a race, saying it would be “too dangerous and it’s crazy.”

Ferrari raised eyebrows last time out in Monza when Kimi Raikkonen, starting from pole position, refused to budge for his team-mate.

That left Sebastian Vettel to fall into the clutches of title rival Lewis Hamilton with the two touching and Vettel pitched into a spin.

The German recovered to finish fourth but with Hamilton going on to win the race, trails the Mercedes driver by 30 points in the race for this year’s World title.

And with this weekend’s Singapore GP marking the spot where Ferrari last recorded an opening lap double DNF, the team-mates colliding in 2017, Arrivabene was asked about Ferrari’s start line politics.

He replied: “I want to be clear – once, forever. Who is so crazy to give a team order to a driver at the start of the race?”

He added: “We do everything with the maximum professional effort.

“Before the race we look at the video of the start [of previous races at that circuit]. Our team manager gives instructions to the drivers about the best line to follow.

“The only instruction you can give to the drivers for the first corner is, ‘Guys, I would like to have both of the cars OK.’

“All the rest is nonsense and I’ll explain the reason to you. Kimi, in the case of Monza, was in pole position. Sebastian was eight metres from him. How do you think Kimi can look where Sebastian is?

“So in your opinion the order is, ‘Kimi, please, slow down when you start and don’t worry if Hamilton and all the others are overtaking you.’ What are we discussing?

“Don’t expect me to give team orders to the drivers at the start of the race, looking forward to the first corner. It’s too dangerous and it’s crazy.”

Vettel will start this weekend’s Singapore GP from third on the grid while Raikkonen is P5.

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