In Formula 1, two flints indeed start a fire!

It’s been an interesting Formula 1 season thus far. Despite the fact that Mercedes, led by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, have dominated 6 out of the 7 races, one can argue the fact that the season is still quite open.  However, Mercedes’ unprecedented dominance is not what makes the season stimulating. We’ve had teams dominate F1 in the past. It’s not something that is new. The Ferraris, the Renaults, the Brawns, the Red Bulls, etc have all been there done that. What makes this season one to watch right till the end is that it’s yet again encouraging the “whether F1 is a team sport or not” debate in probably the most intriguing manner possible.

Ever since the inception of the sport and the controversies that came along with it, there have been numerous discussions about the same. Generally there is always this one team every season that has to deal the frustrating problem of managing two “hotshot” drivers. However, with the events that conspired at the Malaysian Grand Prix at the starting of the season and those at the recently-concluded Canadian Grand Prix, one can safely arrive at the conclusion that this season there definitely is more than one team that is facing this conundrum.

 Interestingly, when the current season started, people thought (nay believed) that the team this season bound to be faced with “team-order issues” is going to be Ferrari. And who can blame their thinking. Fernando Alonso teaming up with the ‘Iceman’ Kimi Raikkonen would make any F1 fanatic jump up and feel that it was just a combination waiting to explode and cause chemical chaos. After all, it was Alonso’s arrival that proved to be the catalyst in Kimi’s leaving Ferrari in the first place. Both can be cocky and neither would settle for being designated as the “number 2” driver. Both drivers have statistics that speak volumes about their illustrious careers in F1. And the cherry that tops it all off is the fact that they both were racing for a team called “Ferrari”, whose history when it comes to teamwork is quite “brilliant” in itself. But, the 2014 season painted a much altered image of what one had in mind.

Enter Mercedes - the team that dominated the pre-season testing with their hybrid engine technology. The team knew clearly that this technological advancement would put the Silver Arrows right at the top. They knew that this was going to be their season to lose. And worst of all, Hamilton and Rosberg knew that they’ve been blessed with a car that could make them start dreaming again. Hamilton, who won the 2008 drivers’ championship by a single point, would surely want to bask in that glory again. And of course Rosberg, who we all know is one the most hardworking drivers on the circuit, would surely like to get a taste of being called world champion. Hence, back came the problem. Who was going to be No. 1?

 See the thing with Formula 1 “teams” is that they actually intend to function as a team to win championships by exploiting individual talents. Therefore, every team that has a limited budget would always designate their two drivers as No. 1 and No. 2. The No. 1 driver of course would be given the better car, would be given more attention and would be the “hero” for whom the No. 2 would have to always make sacrifices. And that is where every team is faced with the moral dilemma of who’s what.

No team on the face of it would come out openly and say that “X” is the No. 1 driver and “Y” is No. 2. It is unethical, immoral and quite frankly illegal to some extent as well. What they do on the other hand is to pull off certain strategies and make it sound like it’s a “team order” meant for the benefit of both drivers. For instance, at the Malaysian Grand Prix this season Williams driver Felipe Massa was clearly told on the radio to let his teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was just one spot behind and on “better tyres”, pass ahead because apparently Bottas had a shot at overtaking the driver in front of Massa.

So let’s get one thing straight, shall we? Team orders in Formula 1 are clearly meant for creating a pecking order between the drivers in a team so that they don’t run the risk of not finishing their individual races or end up colliding with each other. What cannot (or rather should not) be done is to camouflage drivers preferences/designations with team orders. When the drivers are out there racing, it’s every man for himself. They need to worry about the drivers’ championship and the team needs to worry about the constructors’ championship. What cannot be (and again should not) be done is the team worrying about the drivers’ championship. Because that is where priorities are set and predilections are created.

Let’s take another example and come back to the point I made earlier about Ferrari having a “brilliant” history when it comes to team orders. At the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix Rubens Barrichello, who had led the race for majority of the laps, was ordered at the very last lap on the radio to let teammate Michael Schumacher pass in order for Schumi to have a better chance at competing for the drivers’ championship. Thinking about the situation objectively, it would have in no way hindered Ferrari’s position in the constructors’ championship had Barrichello won the race. It would still have been a 1-2 finish for the team. And therefore, this event clearly brought out the driver designation theory in open.

Another appalling incident happened at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix when Renault implemented the “team order” loophole to order Nelson Piquet Jr. to deliberately crash his car as the same would then result in a safety car being called on the track and would in return allow teammate Fernando Alonso to cruise through to victory without having anyone bothering him for overtaking. Nowadays, however, the thing that is of concern is that it is the drivers who want to be in control. They are no longer listening to these “team orders” because everyone is insecure beyond limit and almost every driver feels the only reason why the team is passing a certain order is because it, in some discreet manner, is favoring the other driver.

 And that is where the 2014 Formula 1 season comes into play with its captivating happenings. The recently-concluded Canadian Grand Prix was probably the most enthralling of all races this season. It was event-packed and full of drama ever since the five lights went out. As usual Mercedes led the rest of the pack with its impeccable driving. Rosberg was leading Hamilton and Mercedes were all set to bag their seventh 1-2 finish on the trot. However, somewhere around the 30-35 lap some interesting events started to churn up.

Mercedes, who quite frankly have been struggling the whole season with handling Rosberg and Hamilton, issued a “genuine” team order that politely asked both drivers to not exert too much pressure on their cars and save energy for ERS implementation. The order was perfectly in line with the rules as it focused on the team’s benefits and not the drivers’. But the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry that had been waiting to explode ever since the qualifying fiasco at the Monaco Grand Prix proved to overshadow the authority. As a result, Hamilton had to retire at the fag end with a brake snag while Rosberg ended up surrendering his number 1 spot to Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Keeping in mind the famous saying that goes “it takes two to tango”, the problem does not just lie with F1 teams issuing driver-specific orders discreetly in the form of “team orders”. The problem is much more beyond that. It goes as deep as the teams being helpless in front of the drivers. It goes as deep as the teams feeling the need to favor a certain driver so that his image can bring in the moolah. And it goes as deep as the team encouraging this great drama that promotes the sport in a more enchanting manner. The question remains though – whose ‘flint’ are you on?