Niki Lauda has denied making comments about the team orders row to the official F1 website, much to the delight of Ferrari's 'Horse Whisperer'.

Ferrari launched a stinging attack on its former driver after he was claimed to have told the official F1 website that Ferrari deserved to be punished for what happened at Hockenheim last month.

"What they've done is wrong and they got an immediate punishment - and they will get a pasting from the World Council that is for sure," he is alleged to have told the site.

His comments led to Ferrari sniping back in the form of its 'Horse Whisperer', who wrote on the Italian team's website: "Good old Niki has missed out on a fine opportunity to keep his mouth shut, given that, when he was a Scuderia driver, the supposed Ferrari driver management policy suited him perfectly…That aside, where was all his moral fury when, over the past years, so many have been guilty of more or less overt hypocritical actions?"

However, in an interview with Corriere della Sera, Lauda denied having made the comments, thereby "waking the Horse Whisperer in its silent lair".

Informed of the Austrian's clarification, the horse wrote: "I am very pleased Niki has denied making these statements: it shows that fresh air is really good for you!"