Fernando Alonso controversially led a Ferrari one-two at the German Grand Prix after Felipe Massa appeared to be given orders to let his team-mate past.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was third, 5.1 seconds adrift of the Spaniard.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button never threatened the leaders but Hamilton’s fourth-place finish means he still leads the drivers standings.
But the race was marred by the furore over Ferrari, who were fined $100,000 for breaching sporting regulations.
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Formula 1: German Grand Prix - Race Results
The result was a first one-two for Ferrari since the opening race of the season in Bahrain, a race Alonso won, but the Spaniard’s victory in Germany was soured by the coded team orders given with 18 laps to go.
Ferrari, however, insisted the incident was “a driver decision” and said no instructions were given to their drivers. BBC Sport
But the race was shrouded in controversy as Massa was in front of Alonso until a call from Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali saw Massa hand the lead to Alonso.
Ferrari chief engineer Rob Smedley said to Massa on the team radio: “Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?”
With 18 laps remaining, the Brazilian gave way to his team-mate.
Following the controversial move, Smedley added: “Good lad—just stick with it now, sorry.”
Asked to comment on the call afterwards, Massa, who was denied a potential win a year to the day after he fractured his skull in the Hungarian GP, said simply: “I don’t need to say anything about that. He passed me.” Sydney Morning Herald
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was sixth after a race in which he was held back by an engine problem. He and Vettel are now joint third with 136 points, as Alonso closed up on 123 and Massa climbed to 85.
Robert Kubica took his Renault to a lapped seventh place ahead of the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, with Renault’s Vitaly Petrov putting in a strong performance to take the final point in 10th place.
BMW Sauber’s Pedro de la Rosa ran most of the race on a set of prime Bridgestone tyres and finally switched to options on the 51st of the 67 laps, dropping from seventh to 14th. Then Heikki Kovalainen closed the door while being lapped, necessitating another stop for a new front wing. The Lotus driver retired, joining team mate Jarno Trulli who’d stopped earlier.
Kamui Kobayashi took 11th in the other BMW Sauber, ahead of the dueling Williams of Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg which both lost out in a first-lap melee when the two Force Indias and the two Toro Rossos all got together. Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi lost his rear wing and had to quit, but Jaime Alguersuari recovered to take 15th ahead of Liuzzi and Sutil, the latter using three sets of tyres. Formula 1
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