The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix was a race full of quite a few surprises: The wicked tyre degradation that caught out many drivers; Mercedes’ double retirement from the race; and perhaps the most shocking, the fact that Kimi Räikkönen finished ahead of his teammate.
No one likes team orders because it ruins the excitement of the race. It’s no fun to see a driver’s race result ruined because they were forced to do what was best for the team instead of what would earn then the highest race result. But sometimes team orders are necessary for a team to maintain the lead in the championship.
It’s astonishing that Räikkönen was allowed to keep his P2 result, while Vettel was back in P3, especially considering Ferrari is a team that frequently employs team orders. They are the team that gave us the iconic “Fernando is faster than you” line back in 2010. They’ve also shown time and time again that they don’t mind ruining Räikkönen’s day for the benefit of Vettel.
It’s not really clear why the team allowed Räikkönen to finish ahead, considering that it would have meant an additional 3 points for Vettel’s championship collection. It’s looking like a season where it will be very close between the two drivers, so having these extra points could have been useful. I don’t like team orders, but I certainly wouldn’t have blamed Ferrari for using them on this occasion.
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