GREATER NOIDA: The 'F' in F1 seemed to stand more for 'foreign policy' on a day when, coincidentally, India's foreign minister resigned. The Italian foreign minister, Giulio Terzi, very much in office, is right in the middle of Formula One's foreign policy twist - the increasingly controversial decision by the marquee team Scuderia Ferrari to sport the flag of the Italian navy to express solidarity with the two Italian marines undergoing trial in India.



This unusual show of support was a result of intense lobbying by Italian politicians, particularly Terzi, a person familiar with the development said.



The foreign minister, in fact, wanted the Italian carmaker's F1 team to carry the logo of a support group for the Italian marines, said the person, who is in a position to know, but spoke on condition of anonymity.



On Wednesday, shortly after Ferrari announced the decision to carry the Italian navy's flag on its F1 cars on its website, Terzi, the foreign minister, went on Twitter to congratulate the company.



"Congratulations! Ferrari to carry our Navy's emblem in Indian Grand Prix. It's a testimony to the country’s support to our sailors,” he wrote. Earlier this month, Terzi said in Rome that he was "astounded and disconcerted" by the Indian judiciary's "dithering" over the case.



India's ministry of external affairs expressed its displeasure over Ferrari's decision. "As regards to the use of sporting events for causes which have nothing to do with sports, it is certainly not in the spirit of sports as we deem it," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.



Ferrari finds itself dragged into the centre of an emotively charged diplomatic row between India and Italy that was precipitated by a February 2012 shooting by two Italian marines, protecting cargo liner Enrica Lexie in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Kerala, that killed two Indian fishermen.



The Italian side has claimed that the anti-pirate marines shot in self-defence as the fishermen were armed, a claim the Indian foreign ministry has rejected.



The two marines - Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone - were arrested by the Kerala police and sent to the Central Prison in Thiruvananthapuram. They were granted bail in June on condition that they cannot leave India. Italy has approached the Supreme Court arguing that the incident happened in international waters and India has no jurisdiction to try the marine guards.



In May, Italy recalled the country's envoy from New Delhi to register its protest over India's handling of the case.



At the Buddh International Circuit on Friday, where Ferrari's Fernando Alonso clocked the third-fastest lap times during both practice sessions, the team was dogged by questions about the flag. Team principal Stefano Domenicali refused to be dragged into the row, during the official FIA press conference, saying the team had clarified its position in a statement the previous day and any further queries should be directed to the press office.

Both national and international media continued to ask questions regardless, and Domenicali rejected the suggestion that his team was violating FIA statutes that require teams to not make political gestures. "There is not any political intents or discussion - that is what is written," he said.

"In doing so, Ferrari pays tribute to one of the outstanding entities of our country, also in the hope that the Indian and Italian authorities will soon find a solution to the situation currently involving two sailors from the Italian navy," Ferrari said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday. Scuderia Ferrari spokesperson Luca Colajanni denied that the team took the decision under pressure from Italian politicians.