'Team order' controversy hits F1 again

[Wizzo]

'Team order' controversy returned to the F1 paddock on Sunday evening when Ron Dennis was accused by the British media of illegally preventing former championship leader Lewis Hamilton from challenging his McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso in Monaco.

The most memorable such hullabaloo was in 2002, when Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello pulled over for Michael Schumacher within sight of the Austrian GP chequer.

Dennis, though, was at the centre of a similar storm in 1998, when David Coulthard deferred to Mika Hakkinen in Melbourne.

In Monaco, the F1 circus was unhappy to learn that Hamilton had to follow the lead of his world champion teammate after the first pit stop, having qualified on a heavier fuel load than pole sitter Alonso - and the saga was spurred on by the 22-year-old's visible disappointment on the podium and in the post-race press conference.

"I've got number two on my car. I am the number two driver," Lewis said bluntly.

Team orders that manipulate the result of a race are forbidden by the FIA, but mere team strategies are less frowned-upon.

Dennis, the Woking based team's chairman and principal, made no apologies for protecting the McLaren one-two despite admitting to some disappointment.

"I don't like to slow drivers down, I don't like them to be frustrated but it is the way you have to win the Monaco Grand Prix," he said.

Dennis insisted to reporters that the situation was a "one off", created by the unforgiving Monaco barriers and also McLaren's performance advantage over their nearest competitor here.

He said, "We don't have team orders - we had a strategy to win this race."

"There will be places where they will be absolutely free to race, but this isn't one of them."