Opinion | Pit Stop: Ferrari bends rules in US Grand Prix
Was Ferrari's move to keep Alonso in title chase clever, or cheating?
How far would you be prepared to go to win the Formula One world championship? Would you be happy to bend, if not the letter of the law, the spirit of it? Ferrari might well have had this discussion before the grand prix in the United States. It's more likely, given their response to the latest controversy in the sport, that they did not give it a second thought.
I am referring to the team's decision to deliberately break the seal on Felipe Massa's gearbox after qualifying. It was done to engineer a grid penalty, and therein promote title contender Fernando Alonso up a place. More importantly, moving up a place switched him to the clean side of the grid.
As a new race track, the Circuit of the Americas would have had very little rubber laid down off the racing line. There was a lot of talk of how difficult it was going to be to get away from the left side of the grid, the "dirty side", with its lack of grip.
Goodness only knows what Massa said when he was informed of this cunning plan. You have to feel for the Brazilian, but not as much as the other drivers who found themselves suddenly on the wrong side of the track through no fault of their own.
The scheming worked a treat, with Alonso - now in seventh place - getting a customary stellar start and rounding the first corner in fourth. He finished in third, just a place behind Sebastian Vettel, and in so doing kept the championship alive. A lot of people, regardless of the rules, would call the stunt Ferrari pulled cheating.
This week the team remained defiant. Alonso said he was "proud of this decision, but more proud of this decision to say the truth, sometimes when teams take decisions not many people say the truth". If you are able to put your moral indignation to one side, you have to applaud the Italian team for their honesty if nothing else.