Totally expected decision and I also agree that the rule is stupid. But whether the rule is right or wrong, or whether Ferrari or anyone else does not like the rule, it does not matter they are the rules and must be respected. Ferrari broke the rule and were caught and therefore should be punished on these premises alone.
From the Autosport article on the FIA statement:
The FIA remains convinced that Ferrari did use illegal team orders at the German Grand Prix - but it decided not to push the team further at its disciplinary hearing on Wednesday because of inconsistencies in the way the rules have been applied in the past.
However, it stated that: "there were many examples of what could have been said to be team orders in Formula 1 in recent years, and therefore there has been inconsistency in its application.
I can’t see how this can be used by the FIA as a reason why Ferrari did not receive further punishment. If this is the case and is how FIA decided fines, why was Schumacher punished in Hungary when there have been inconsistency in past punishment of driver behaviour.
Also, from the Autosport article:
The report also revealed that a few laps before the radio communication where Rob Smedley informed Massa that Alonso was faster than him, both drivers had been ordered to turn their engines down – before the Spaniard was allowed to turn his up again.
"Alonso increased his engine speed without Mr Felipe Massa's being informed," revealed the FIA document. "Mr Fernando Alonso was therefore benefiting from a definite performance advantage over Mr Felipe Massa in the moments preceding the contentious overtaking."
So was this the reason why Alonso was faster than Massa???
