Stefano Domenicali is adamant the sport's integrity will be maintained despite the lifting of a ban on team orders © Getty Images Enlarge Related Links Feature:

An end to policing the unpoliceable



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FIA returns team orders to Formula One



Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali celebrated the return of Formula One to a "team sport" after the FIA announced its decision to lift the ban on team orders ahead of next season.

Domenicali claims the decision will end what he calls "pointless hypocrisy", with teams previously expected to compete for the constructors' championship without being given full control over the tactics of their drivers.

Ferrari was caught in the middle of a storm during the 2010 season when Felipe Massa moved aside to allow Fernando Alonso to triumph at the German Grand Prix. Alonso eventually failed to win the drivers' championship, losing out to Sebastian Vettel, saving the sport a major controversy over the team's Hockenheim antics.

Stewards fined Ferrari at the time of the incident, but Domenicali has always insisted that F1 is a team sport, and he expressed his relief at the FIA's decision to delete article 39.1 ahead of the 2011 campaign.

"Finally, we have said goodbye to this pointless hypocrisy," he was quoted as saying by Autosport. "For us, Formula 1 is a team sport and we have always maintained that viewpoint and it should be treated as such.

"The regulations already include points that prevent certain situations being managed in an extreme manner," he said. "The decision taken [Friday] is very important."