Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo believes the result of the European grand prix could damage the reputation of Formula One.
He said on Ferrari’s official website that his team “paid a price that was too high for respecting the rules”.
Ferrari believes Lewis Hamilton’s drive through penalty for overtaking the safety car was given too late, allowing the McLaren driver to keep his second place. Fernando Alonso, who stayed behind the safety car, could only finished ninth.
Nine other drivers were penalised with five-second penalties after the race for breaking safety car rules, a penalty di Montezemolo believes was too lenient.
“Those who didn’t follow the rules were penalised by the race officials in a way that was less severe than the damage suffered by those who did respect them,” he said.
He described the weekend’s events as “very serious and unacceptable”, claiming they create “dangerous precedents, throwing a shadow over the credibility of Formula One”.
“We are sure that the FIA will fully analyse what happened, taking the consequent necessary decisions,” he added. “Ferrari will watch this with interest.”
