Gascoyne attacks team tactics

Many teams, including Williams and Jaguar, blatantly slowed their cars to gain an earlier slot in qualifying, as rain was expected to arrive mid-way through the session. Gascoyne hinted that this infringed article 151c of the international sporting code, which outlaws "any act prejudicial to the interests of motor sport generally." Deliberately driving slowly when spectators had paid to watch a qualifying session could be interpreted in such a way.

"I personally think what happened in the first qualifying session was that teams clearly deceived the public by not ensuring their drivers pushed to the limit," said Gascoyne. "I hope the crowd was entertained by the second qualifying session because the first one was a disgrace in front the huge numbers of people who have turned up at Silverstone today. It is unbelievable that the fans are let down in such a way."

Former team principal and three-time world champion Jackie Stewart could see both sides of the story, and said: "I don't like what happened and I don't think it looks right. But if I was a team owner or manager, I would have done exactly the same thing."

Polesitter Kimi Raikkonen defended his tactic of slowing as he exited the final corner in pre-qualifying. He said: "We are trying to do the best we can and unfortunately it's not always the best thing for the spectators. We can do what we want.

"How can you judge who was [deliberately] slow? I was two-three seconds off the [pre-qualifying] pace, but that doesn't necessarily mean I was [deliberately] slow. The rules are not really clear, so how can you penalise people for this?"