Rules are rules but Ferrari’s power within Formula One told as they were issued with only a fine for deliberately breaking Rule 39.1, which states that team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited, during the German Grand Prix this weekend.

The Italian team had set out at the weekend to make a statement and get back into the championship race and to be fair to them they did just that, leading the majority of the race through Massa with Alonso second.

However, it became clear that Alonso was marginally quicker than his team mate and with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel threatening to challenge for the lead Ferrari took the decision to ‘hint’ to their drivers that Alonso should be allowed through to prevent a proper race between the two drivers.

“Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?”

Those were the words of Ferrari’s race engineer Rob Smedley to Massa and moments later the Brazilian allowed Alonso through – as clear a case of team orders as there can be. That was confirmed when the Ferrari team were punished post-race with a trifling £100,000 fine.

Guilty as charged then, but it’s the level of punishment I’m taking issue with here. Rule 39.1 was put in place to prevent just this sort of thing and to give the F1 audience proper racing up front. Both McLaren and Red Bull have allowed their drivers to fight it out for the lead this season and Ferrari should have done the same.

Instead they cheated, pure and simple. It would have been fantastic viewing to watch Alonso and Massa battle each other and it could also have allowed Vettel to get involved too, serving up a three way fight for the victory. Who wouldn’t want to see that?

Ferrari robbed us all of that chance and as such should have had both drivers disqualified. It may have been unsatisfactory, but so was what happened. It would also have sent a clear message to the other teams that team orders will not be tolerated.

Eddie Jordan was apoplectic with what happened, as you would expect from the fiery Irishman.

“It was unlawful and was theft. They stole from us the chance of having a wheel-to-wheel contest between the drivers. Ferrari should be ashamed. This was a team order. For me, it is cheating and these two cars should be excluded.”

Strong but fair words in my opinion, and it’s rare I agree with Jordan. This is potentially the best F1 season in a very long time. Ferrari – and a weak willed FIA – have put that at risk by inferring you can get away with only a small fine if you want to cheat. It’s outrageous and the precedent set will not discourage team orders being used in the future.

Not that I’m surprised. As I said, Ferrari have a lot of power in Formula One and they put it to good use here, forcing their way back into contention for the championships through very underhand tactics. I can only hope Red Bull and McLaren reinstate their dominance so far this season and ensure Ferrari have had their moment of ‘glory’ for this year.

While I am sure the focus of many Toronto-and-the-surrounding-area residents has been the extreme heat as of late, it was much to my delight when a hockey related story made the news.

The Leafs (of the Toronto Maple variety) signed a new captain.

Dion Phaneuf was officially named the 18th captain of the team in June.

A young, hard working defenseman hailing from Edmonton, he has played alongside one of the best during his NHL career (Iginla).
Toronto desperately needed someone’s sweater to stitch the ‘C’ onto, and Coach Wilson’s choice is both promising and inspiring. Since Mats Sundin’s departure in 2008, the team has had a ‘lost at sea’ aura with no defined leadership and not near enough heart.

Phaneuf is a real (excuse the term!) team player, already said to be a huge motivating factor in the dressing room and on ice. He has passion for the game, talent on the rink and a fan’s adoration for the Blue and White.

Since entering the league Phaneuf leads all NHL defencemen in goals (76), power-play goals (48), game-winning goals (21) and shots (1,233).

Here’s hoping he can stand the love-hate relationship the Leaf fans have for the team. (None of us are very good at standing by our men in this respect, for better or worse is not the consensus around here!)

Here’s also hoping that he can assist in getting every player working together and showcasing talent instead of faltering.

The immense pressure by the fans will be his biggest potential stumbling block, but with his record and mindset he shows great promise in getting things in order for Toronto.

So as we hoist the cold beverages to our faces to help combat heat, any Leafs fan can tell you there’s only one thing on everyone’s mind – when will we get the chance to hoist The Cup again?

After a lovely Olympic interlude (and the opportunity to let the Leafs poor season fade into the background) where Canada were hockey’s best, I think Greater Ontario is ready to enjoy the summer and keep this little glimmer of hope for the start of the season…

Reanne Evans, the first woman to play on the main tournament circuit in 15 years, lost her debut match 4-2 to Liu Chang at the Players’ Tour Championship.

Evans is a six times womens’ world champion and is only 24. She was invited onto the pro circuit after winning her last 61 matches. She beat men’s world champion John Higgins back in December at the Six Reds World Championship, showing she can cut it against the best in the world.

Should she win two matches against professional players – she is one of 32 amateur players with this opportunity – she will qualify to play in the World Open.

I’m all for women playing on the professional snooker tour. It’s not the sort of sport where gender matters, no advantage to being male or female and they should be able to compete against one another.

It would be fantastic to see a couple of women line up alongside Higgins, O’Sullivan and the plethora of quality Chinese players at the Crucible in the World Championship.

Allison Fisher was the first woman to play on the professional snooker circuit but didn’t make much headway and, feeling she didn’t get the same respect as the men, quit to play pro pool in the States where she has been hugely successful, being nominated to join join the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.

It is to be hoped Reanne, and more like her, have more success in snooker and that times have changed and they will be accepted readily into the game.

As someone who has been soundly beaten on the baize by several women over the years, I know they can play. Let’s just give them a chance!

This weekend sees the Formula One roadshow visit Silverstone for the British Grand Prix and former world champion Damon Hill reckons it could be the event during which the so far amicable relationship between McLaren drivers (and Englishmen) Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finally begin to fracture.

He may have a point. Both drivers are vying for the Formula One title, both drivers have won it and both drivers will want desperately to win their home Grand Prix.

Not only that, Red Bull have reapplied pressure by winning the last race in Valencia, Sebastien Vettel pipping both McLaren drivers to the chequered flag.

You’ll also remember the Turkish Grand Prix, in which Button and Hamilton fought for the win, Button overtaking his team mate before Hamilton retook the lead for the win. There was confusion over orders given to Hamilton to preserve fuel, allowing Button to overtake which added to the mounting tension.

Hill reckons all this, plus that desire to win the home race could finally boil over on the track.

“Jenson will not be letting Lewis get away with anything. Your closest most significant competitor is your team-mate and when you’ve got a team-mate as good as Jenson then it’s not a foregone conclusion.

“I know Lewis has the mindset of a driver who sees the normal state of affairs as him being first, which is great, and that’s what you’d expect but perhaps Jenson is a little bit more opportunistic and slightly more mature and realistic about things.

“This could be the start of the rest of the season [for the McLaren relationship].

“Traditionally Silverstone [is] smack in the middle of the summer, smack in the middle of the season, the preliminaries are over and from now on the clock is definitely ticking.

“There is only room for one guy.”

The interesting question is who McLaren want that one guy to be. Publicly they have stated they will let their drivers race for the right to be world champion, but privately they will be wary of an on-track war ruining either the chances of both drivers – not to mention McLaren’s own push for the Constructors Championship.

Red Bull, whose drivers have slipped back to third and fourth in the championship race and trail McLaren by 30 points in the Constructors race, will be hoping that is exactly what happens. Both Vettel and Mark Webber are still well in touch with the British drivers and even Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who trails Hamilton by 29 points, remains in with a shout of the title.

For the good of Formula One I hope Hamilton and Button are allowed to battle it out but they do it sensibly. A return to the heady days of Prost and Senna going head to head for McLaren would fantastic. That it’s a five way battle for the Drivers Championship only adds to the excitement.

Should be a cracking weekend.

As an aside, an interesting question was raised on our Facebook page about who the best driver in Formula One is – I went with Lewis Hamilton, as in my opinion he is the most naturally gifted out there. Mike Shaw disagreed, though he didn’t say who he thought was the best!

So…let’s have your opinions in the comments or on Facebook and Mike – put your money where your mouth is!

Is this turning out to be the best Formula One season in years? I think it might be. The two top teams are swapping poles and one-two finishes with regularity, there are simmering rivalries within each and yesterday’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal was a cracker.

It was McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton starting on pole, breaking Red Bull’s hold on qualifying for the first time in quite a while. Mark Webber started second with team mate Sebastian Vettel in third and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in fourth. Hamilton’s team mate and reigning world champion Jenson Button started fifth on the grid.

What followed was an incident packed race with all the top five in qualifying having the possibility of winning. As it turned out pit stop strategy and traffic allowed Hamilton and Button to clinch a much needed one-two finish for McLaren with Alonso separating the English team from the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber respectively.

The win, his second in as many races, puts Hamilton on top of the Drivers Championship, just three points ahead of Button and displacing Mark Webber, while McLaren go top of the Constructors Championship.

After a couple of months of Red Bull dominance, McLaren have dragged themselves – and their drivers – back into serious contention and it looks like it will be nip and tuck for the rest of the season. Red Bull still have the best car, but it seems McLaren have the better brains at the moment.

There was no repeat of the in-team racing that saw Webber and Vettel ruin each others chances in the last Grand Prix and while Button chased down Hamilton’s lead in the last few laps in Canada there wasn’t really any danger of the two going head to head for the lead. Those rivalries remain, however, and it won’t take much for flare up.

Further back in the field frustrated seven time world champion Michael Schumacher was having a nightmare, Not used to being overtaken by upstarts such as Buemi and Liuzzi, he boiled over in an incident with Massa towards the end of the race, seeming to turn into the Brazilian slightly, damaging his front wing. It was referred to the stewards but no further action will be taken.

You have to question Schumacher’s decision to return to the sport. He has nothing to prove and will only tarnish his reputation – especially if he allows his frustrations to get the better of him on the track. His legendary status may have spared him punishment this time round, I don’t know, but any other driver would surely have received some kind of penalty.

Where this year’s title will go is anyone’s guess now. It’s a four way battle between between the drivers of McLaren and Red Bull and it’s fantastic. Hamilton is the form driver right now, Button won’t give up and will grab any opportunity presented to him, Webber is having his best ever season and Vettel has talent oozing out of his pores.

Could go any way.