This is a photo of Massa and Alonso at a pre-season trip to a ski resort. They look happy don't they?

However, after Scuderia Ferrari's blatant disregard of Rule 39.1 which states: "Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited", you can be sure that if these two race aces ever smile in each other presence again, it's purely for "show" or that something bad had happened to one of them and the other is simply gloating.

Team orders have always been a part of Formula One but since a ban on them was introduced in 2002, teams have been forced into disguising attempts to switch their drivers' positions during a race - be it through a messed-up pit stop, a sudden (and temporary) mechanical glitch or an "independent" decision by the driver who is ahead to slow down.

My take on whether team orders should become legal again is simple - let it happen. I have seen it happen in two of the other FIA World Championships - the World Touring Car Championship and World Rally Championship. If I had a dollar for every time McRae, Gronholm or Loeb won a race because their teammate was late arriving at the start line of a stage (which incurs a time penalty), I would have enough money to pay off the $100,000 fine that was imposed on Ferrari as a result of their German Grand Prix infringement.

Formula One's problem is quite interesting - the prize for an individual is greater than the one for the team. Given the importance of teamwork in Formula One, the Constructors' Championship should be the ultimate prize. But we all know that the drivers' crown is the one that every team boss wants in the trophy cabinet.

It is like if Chelsea did not care one bit if they won the league title as long as Drogba won the best player's title.

So let's forget the bullsh** and admit that Formula One is a team game, hence, team orders are part and parcel of strategy. As for the problem regarding the perceived lower stature of the Constructors' Championship when compared to the Drivers' Championship, scrap the latter and let the team title be the only one to fight for. 

Extreme? Probably but it would make things very interesting...

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