Formula One news

Stewart backs McLaren's 'team orders'

Sir Jackie Stewart believes that McLaren did nothing wrong in preventing Lewis Hamilton challenging his own team-mate Fernando Alonso for victory in Monday. "I saw nothing wrong with what occurred," Sir Jackie Stewart said.

Speaking with BBC Radio Sir Jackie Stewart said: "Alonso was on pole position, he made a very good start, he took a lead that allowed him to have a good clear bit of air behind him. He set the fastest lap, and he won the race. It was fairly straightforward."

Stewart furthermore said: "The Schumacher-Barrichello case was blatant - he reduced his speed by maybe 30 or 40mph to have Schumacher pass him before the finishing line. It was a pretty blatant thing, it wasn't enjoyed by the crowd, it wasn't enjoyed by the media.

"But it's a very difficult thing to start telling team owners that if you are running first and second that you should keep driving your drivers to the absolute limit of their ability. I think it was a great result for Lewis Hamilton to finish second in the Monaco Grand Prix and get another podium finish. What if he had tried a little bit too hard in these last laps in Monaco and slid off the race track, hit a barrier and taken the Mclaren out of the race? Valuable world championship points would have been lost by McLaren."

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