The crowd in the stands turn their thumbs down, the press booed Michael Schumacher, fans burned their Ferrari flags and caps up on the hill. Everyone but everyone was angry at the result of the Austrian Grand Prix. And it was anger, anger at the way the sport had been manipulated from the pit wall, that Rubens Barrichello had been deprived of another win.

But then he wasn't unhappy about it. He's signed a new contract with Ferrari that allows them to do what they like with him. He's their puppet, just as Michael is a rather more expensive puppet. But he does what he's told as well. And yesterday they told one to slow down and another to overtake and that's what they did.

In fact, it transpired Barrichello was as guilty of willful manipulation as anyone. He didn't deserve any sympathy at all. He was part of the plot to deprive the sport of its name and just turn it whatever they want.

But it isn't Ferrari's manipulation of the drivers that allows them to do what they want with the sport. It is the fact that they have the strongest car in the field. The drivers weren't racing one another. Hadn't been since the second pit stops. They are under no threat, they can do what they like. And it's this point about not racing that is the most important.

Ross Brawn said that his drivers hadn't been racing, had cut their revs, were looking after the equipment, taking no chances with backmarkers. When you get to that stage - and no one can control it apart from the FIA - then you are totally in control and you do what you want. You can't make teams' drivers race one another, and you can understand a team not wanting to. Teams need to race other teams.

So it's all very well for Patrick Head to object - just as the rest of us did - to what happened yesterday, but Ferrari wouldn't have been able to do what they did if there was another team snapping at their heels, or even ahead of them.

As both Jean Todt and Ross Brawn have pointed out, they could have created some pit stop scam to make it look authentic and then the press would still have been unhappy because they would have suspected manipulation - so no change there. And how could the FIA prevent that? They can't.

Sitting here in a farm in Austria, I was expecting a statement of support from Luca di Montezemolo backing up yesterday's decision. Every moment's delay I saw as a reluctance from the Ferrari president to support his men. Might he sack Jean Todt for dirtying the Ferrari name by employing such unsporting tactics?

But he and they have no option. They are all powerful in the sport at the moment because they are so vastly superior. They can do what they like.

And while I was waiting for that statement, I was also perhaps expecting condemnation from the FIA. Bringing the sport into disrepute was one charge being bandied about, but what were Ferrari meant to do? Slow down? Park it? There's no charge to answer; Ferrari did what they wanted because they can.

We are hysterical, deeply upset that our sport can be used in this way, just turned whichever way one team wants but you can't blame Ferrari. They've just done the best job that they can and until someone gets up there and rattles their cage, they will continue to work towards giving the driver with the most points the best chance of winning the championship.

Because that's what they are there to do.

Bob Constanduros

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