Jean Todt responded coyly when asked if team orders prevented Felipe Massa from winning his first grand prix for Ferrari at Indy.
The young Brazilian ably led the first stint at the US grand prix, but mysteriously dropped to second through the first pit stops after losing up to three seconds on his in-lap. There was also some suggestion of a slipping clutch in the stop.
Probed for if the pair had been free to race, Ferrari principal Todt answered: ”They work for Ferrari. We are paid by Ferrari. Felipe did a fantastic race, Michael did a fantastic race.
”It’s our job. Our job is to try to deliver the best for the company, so we try our best.”
Massa himself, meanwhile, suggested that it would not have made sense to stay ahead of Schumacher and compromise his push to close the points gap to title-leader Fernando Alonso.
He admitted: ”I have no possibility to win the championship, so to help him is the best thing to do. We need to be clever sometimes.”
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