The Fine: How you voted

The readers of Autosport.com have voted that Ferrari should have been punished more severely in the wake of the Austrian Grand Prix team orders controversy

The team and its drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello walked away from Wednesday's FIA World Council meeting free of penalties for their blatant fixing of the result at the A1-Ring. But they were fined US$1 million for breaking the podium protocol when Schumacher allowed Barrichello to stand on the top step as if he was the winner.

The FIA claimed it had reached the decision not to punish Ferrari for the team orders with reluctance, but had no choice in the matter because no rule had been broken.

But when Autosport.com invited its readers to vote on whether Ferrari's punishment was fair, 70 percent said no, leaving only 30 percent agreeing with the FIA's decision.

Now the governing body is planning to ask the general public to suggest what can be done about team orders via its website, as it tries to come up with a way to clarify the contentious issue. The invitation for views will be put up some time in the near future.