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.

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!

Trouble brewing at McLaren? Hope so!

I used to be a big fan of Formula One, back in the Mansell, Senna and Prost days. They were characters. Yes, even Mansell with his deadpan voice.

Then the characters left the sport, just as they have in snooker, and I drifted away. Not for me the non-entity that was Damon Hill or the machine that was Michael Schumacher.

Then, over the last few of seasons, my interest was piqued again…

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Toyota have today announced that they are pulling out of Formula One to save money after posting devastating figures for the year. This leaves no Japanese competitor for the 2010 season. They follow Honda, who quit the sport at the start of the 2009 season, and BMW who announced their departure in July.

But where does this leave Formula One? Even Ferrari have threatened recently to quit and that really would be catastrophic for a sport already struggling to come to terms with the world financial situation.

Clearly the FIA and Formula One bosses need to make it cheaper to compete or we could be looking at a three horse race in the not too distant future between Ferrari, Williams and McLaren-Mercedes. Brawn stepped into Honda’s shoes and have proved what can be done by winning the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships in there first year with Jenson Button so there is life in the old dog yet.

The actions of BMW, Honda and Toyota cannot be ignored, however. For fans of the sport, something needs to be done fast by the governing body.