German GP: Alonso Wins Team Order Battle

Ferrari won Sunday's German GP but could face a backlash after a "sorry" pit wall order Felipe Massa to gift the win to Fernando Alonso

Starting second and third on the grid with Alonso ahead of Massa, pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel did everything he could to squeeze Alonso, leaving a perfect gap for Massa to take the lead.

Adding insult to injury, Vettel then ran wide in his battle with Alonso and dropped to third place.

Massa and Alonso held stations despite what initially appeared to be a minor incident within the Ferrari camp when Alonso was quicker than his team-mate and wanted by. Massa, though, was having none of it - and neither was the Ferrari pit wall.

Forced to remain behind his team-mate, Alonso was fuming but Massa proved Ferrari right in not issuing team orders - which are actually banned - by plugging in fastest lap after fastest lap as he pulled away from his team-mate.

And with Alonso not wanting to be outdone by his team-mate, the Spaniard himself put in quick laps until finally he was back on Massa's rear wing. And that's when the team orders finally came.

On lap 49 as Rob Smedley told Massa: "So Fernando is faster than you? Can you confirm you understand that message?"

A few corners later Massa, very obviously, let Alonso by and into the lead as Ferrari's pit wall decided the outcome of the German GP. "Sorry," Smedley told Massa.

Meanwhile, Vettel finished in third place, completing the podium while behind the top-three battle - if we can call it a battle - Lewis Hamilton claimed fourth place at the start, overtaking Mark Webber through the hairpin on the opening lap. He remained P4 throughout the grand prix while Webber lost out to Jenson Button in the round of pit stops.

Results:
01. Alonso Ferrari 1h28:38.866
02. Massa Ferrari + 4.196
03. Vettel Red Bull-Renault + 5.121
04. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 26.896
05. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 29.482
06. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 43.606
07. Kubica Renault + 1 lap
08. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
09. Schumacher Mercedes + 1 lap
10. Petrov Renault + 1 lap
11. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
13. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap
14. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap
15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
16. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps
19. Senna HRT-Cosworth + 4 laps

Did Not Finish
Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 58
Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 51
Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 20
Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 4
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

Source: Planet-F1