F1's harsh spotlight of the international media is shining on Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, but also the regulation prohibiting team orders.

In a frosty post-race press conference at Hockenheim, some reporters warned Spaniard Alonso he now risks winning a "dirty" championship, comparing his win at the hands of an illegal team order to his victory at Singapore in 2008.

"That's your opinion," the Ferrari driver told them.

Team orders, of course - dating back to the gentleman racer's days when number two drivers would pull into the pits to hand over their cars - are nothing new.

"This was just handled very badly," said Lotus' Mike Gascoyne.

And Ferrari's handling in Germany, with Felipe Massa ordered aside by way of a coded message from apologetic engineer Rob Smedley, fuelled the media's fire.

"I am glad that the media in the paddock are kind of like our police," remarked Alex Wurz.

But according to Spain's Marca sports daily, "the English press showed no mercy" for a driver who clashed so memorably with Lewis Hamilton back in 2007.

The Sunday Express called Alonso and Ferrari "dirty, thieving cheats", while even the milder Daily Telegraph admitted that the World Motor Sport Council could in theory disqualify the famous team from formula one at an August meeting.

"A suspension for a number of races is another possibility," said the Daily Mail.

Triple world champion Niki Lauda scolded Alonso for blatantly denying he had won the race thanks to a team order. The Independent newspaper said "nobody was fooled" by Alonso's argument that he wasn't aware of the fix.

"I've never heard a driver talk such bullshit. He has no character," said Austrian great Lauda.

Dr Helmut Marko, under fire for some recent decisions at Red Bull, revelled in the change of fortune.

"It is unbelievable how awkwardly they demonstrated who is their number one. The FIA must react with a drastic punishment," he is quoted by Blick.

The Swiss newspaper's correspondent agreed: "There are different ways for Alonso to return to the throne. Lying and cheating should not be one of them."

Even the usually partisan AS newspaper remarked: "Alonso deserved to win the German grand prix, but not like this. Domenicali has confirmed his true ineptitude by giving Massa obvious team orders that are prohibited by the rules."

Said Brazil's Folha de S.Paulo: "It was an insult to the sport."

Rio de Janeiro's Lance added: "We regret writing it, but from Massa it was a lack of courage."

Rubens Barrichello, whose move for Michael Schumacher in 2002 motivated the team order ban, said: "I will speak to Felipe myself. Nothing has changed at Ferrari.

"I think you can read my opinion better from my face," he stormily told Brazilian radio Jovem Pan.

Said French newspaper Liberation: "Ferrari is a team unlike another; when not undermined by political intrigue, they shoot themselves in the foot."

La Libre wondered how the FIA is going to react at the World Motor Sport Council: "Would Jean Todt dare punish his old team for a practice he applied himself? We honestly doubt it."

Another side of the story is what Renault's customer engine boss Fabric Lom described on Europe 1 radio as the "hypocrisy" of the current regulations.

Agreed Italy's Corriere dello Sport: "It is fair to recognise that the problem is in the regulations."

Rome daily Il Tempo said Ferrari "did the right thing in the wrong way", and Spain's El Mundo said the team order ban is "a regulation that penalises team interests".

Italy's Autosprint marvelled that Ferrari was "fined for teamwork!"

Said Britain's Telegraph: "Ferrari were caught and they must pay. But the rule is unenforceable. To pretend otherwise is deluded."

Mercedes' Norbert Haug does not quite agree: "We need to think of the spectators. They want to see fights on the track, not these actions.

"The different teams have different attitudes about team orders."

To the Spanish press, Alonso argued: "The ones who pay us are the team, not the newspapers or anyone else, and now Ferrari is taking 43 points back to Italy.

"And that is what we have to do -- what is best for the team. On Friday I was faster, I was second in qualifying and faster than Felipe in the race. I don't think the slower driver won this race," he added.

One who respects the rules is ninth, and the one who does not respect them is second," Alonso is quoted by the Spanish sports website as.com.
He was also critical of the time it took the stewards, this weekend including former grand prix winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen, to reach the decision to penalise Hamilton.

"It seems it was very difficult to watch a replay; it takes many laps," said Alonso sarcastically.

"Everything is against us. They allow everything and it's a shame the public has today seen a race that is not quite real."

Ferrari's rage against the outcome of the European grand prix went from bad to worse on Monday.

With Fernando Alonso having accused the stewards of manipulating the Valencia race, the Italian team echoed the apparent view of some fans that Lewis Hamilton's drive-through penalty for overtaking the safety car was a "scandal".

But in another website report on Monday, Ferrari stepped up its attack, repeating the view of one fan that had hit out at "McLaren thieves" who were "up to their usual dirty tricks".

Another fan said: "The FIA at Valencia showed it's not entirely in charge of the events that it's organising", and yet another added: "Is this the latest version of Jean Todt? Those who order and manipulate are always the same."

Ferrari quoted another fan as saying: "Federation of clowns! What help is a five-second penalty? Useless and the usual English mafia!"

And another: "Enough with the help for Hamilton. How can he lie and cheat and still get away scot-free?"

Mirror correspondent Byron Young wrote on Twitter that in "Max Mosley's day", there would be "sanctions" for accusing the FIA of fixing races.

When the rage intensified on Monday, he added: "Are the FIA going to act or will Jean Todt dodge the first big F1 test of his presidency?"

But we digress. On the other hand, of course, there are the defenders of Ferrari’s actions. F1 is, despite sometimes looking different, a team sport. Teams shell out vast amounts of money travelling around the world to bring home two prizes – the drivers’ championship and the teams’ one. This has a number of consequences for their conduct during the race. It means the maximum amount of points must always be scored; it means whichever of the drivers appears most likely to win the championship is preferred, if only in a de facto way. It means they have to keep their ‘star’ driver happy. In this case, few would contest that Fernando Alonso is more of a star than Felipe Massa. Ferrari’s management obviously believe that they are doing better to back the Spanish horse than the Brazilian one. And that, sadly enough for those who want to see a fair fight between team-mates, is the teams’ prerogative. A fair fight between team-mates is a rarer thing in F1 than most people believe.

That situation exists in other teams as well. It was a little galling today to see Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mock Ferrari for the ‘most obvious team order’ he had ever seen, when his team preferred one of their drivers over the other at Silverstone. It is not a difficult thing to understand, the idea, and so it gets a little wearing when team principals pretend it doesn’t happen. It might not be so ‘obvious’, but whether it is options on parts, access to set-up information, human relationships or the perception of his pace, one driver will always be a step ahead of the other.

Ferrari today pretended that they were not preferring a driver. They specifically told Massa not to move over, which would have been blatantly illegal, but merely that Alonso was faster than him. Massa hung himself, goes the argument, by letting Alonso by. The line, then, between ‘a team organising itself in the optimal way for the race result’ and a ‘team order’ is a very fine one. That they were simply doing the former is presumably what Ferrari will be arguing if and when they appear in front of the WMSC.

But no-one believes that they were simply defending themselves from Vettel. Everyone knows that Alonso is the man Ferrari want to win more races for them. That shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone.