Scheckter Defends Ferrari's Decision

Former World Champion and Ferrari driver Jody Scheckter has defended his former team for their controversial decision to hand Michael Schumacher a win in the Austrian Grand Prix and argued that people should appreciate such open tactics.

Ferrari, who created an uproar on Sunday when they ordered Rubens Barrichello to move over for Championship leader Schumacher, have been heavily criticised for what many considered it was an unsportsman-like behaviour.

But Scheckter, now an organic farmer, has backed his old team claiming that fans should recognise that Formula One is a team sport and added that they would be criticising even more if the team ended up losing the Championship by a narrow margin.

"Formula One is a team sport," argued Scheckter. "And the most prestigious prize in the sport is the Driver's Championship. As Michael said, if he had an accident and at the end of the season they had lost the Championship by a couple of points, then people would have been asking why they hadn't used team orders earlier.

"There are many ways a team could affect a race result that would not be obvious but Ferrari choose to be open about what they were doing."

Scheckter won the Championship for Ferrari in 1979, and the South African was the last champion for the Italian team before Schumacher's win in 2000.